GUATEMALA NEWS
OllGAN OF THE GUATEMALA MISSION
VoL. XVIII [ Guatemala, March, 1927. j Num. 3.
EDITORIAL
Presbytery and Conference
We have found it advantageous in Guatemala to make of Presbytery not only a business meeting but a popular rally as well in shape of a Conference. It is an excellent opportunity to devel¬ op congregational singing, give in¬ struction on broader topics and develop the spirit of solidarity. Besides, a large gathering in one place makes^a deep impression on the community. We have lately attended one of these combined Presbyteries and Conferences. It was most encouraging. While there:
We sa V a barefooted Indian who a dozen years before was but a drivelling idolater and witch doctor, self -centered and utterly useless to his fellow men, now transformed by the Gospel into a splendid Christian man and he has be¬ come a tremendous power for the re¬ generation and progress of all that region.
We saw this man superintend the en¬ tertainment, both lodging and boarding, of some 500 Christian brethren, mostly of his own race and not a few of them converted to the Gospel by his own personal eft’orts and generalship. No king and queen could have been more punctiliously courteous and kind than were he and his radiant little old Indian wife. No trained military man could have fed that crowd more systematically and more sumptuously under the con¬ ditions, nor have arranged better their comfort for the hours of rest.
When this man was converted he didn’t know one letter from another. All he knew was the right way to drape a wooden image of the virgin so as to win the most favor from it, and the right incantations to win the help of the devil against his enemies and keep him away from himself. Yet we saw
him now stand before that large audi¬ ence with his shell-rimmed spectacles and, with all the dignity of a Secretary of State, read the Bible and give his testimony to the power of the Gospel in his life.
We saw this man, who a dozen years before had been galloping thru his poll-parrot mummery to the images in the church and burning incense to the Devil, now stand in that large audience and direct a clear, strong, beautiful prayer, leading the devotions of all up to the eternal God.
We know of Americans who tithe and some who double tithe for the Lord’s work. But what American owning a a good sized business or farm gives all his income to advance the cause of Christ? The above-mentioned Indian passes as one of the wealthy Indians of his region, but he goes unshod, wears shirts whose cotton was raised by him¬ self and which his good wife spun and wove and cut and sewed. He wears pants and coat of homespun sometimes made in his own home, eats little but what he raises on his farm, sleeps on the ground on a mat woven by his own family and under a cotton blanket of the same make— and gives his entire product year after year to the God who opened his eyes to eternal truth! This adds the victory over the stupefy¬ ing lust for wealth to the virtue for which the Master so warmly praised the mite widow, for what he gives is a veritable fortune for him and would set him up in sumptuous luxury. Yet he still lives the simple life, goes bare¬ foot, eats the plainest of food and spends nothing on himself, except to buy the spectacles with which to read his Bible. Wish some of our American
2
GUATEMALA NEWS
“captains” would come here and get some pointers on stewardship.
We saw this man welcoming his army of guests in a fairly large church built almost entirely by his own means, tho the lot was purchased largely by the help of others. It is situated in the center of the town, right beside the municipal building and fronting the Catholic Church. He wants this Gospel known, and is doing all in his power to get it known. A dozen years before when he was converted, a fanatical Al¬ calde and military Commandant had put him in the army and treated him with brutal severity expressly to “take those religious manias out of him.” Now his big church stands right there in the teeth of the Municipality, the Municipal¬ ity itself has grown tolerant, and he not only retains his “manias,” but is reinforced by 500 others with the same “manias.” That is victory.
We also saw an Indian, who 20 years ago was the terror of his town in every known type of iniquity , kneel and receive ordination at the hands of the Presby¬ tery, and we had the joy of voicing the ordaining prayer consecrating him to the service of God in the office of the ministry, and we can assure our readers that it was no mei'e formality when in love and congratulation w'e gave the hand of fellowship and a good cordial hug to this the first ordained Indian evangelist in Guatemala. For years he has been working and studying and already as licenciate he has 20 congre¬ gations to his credit. He is now middle aged, but if the Lord spares him he will yet be a great power among the Quiches.
We saw a native presbytery that four years ago was just organized with each member so ignorant of presbyterial proceedings and so timid and diffident that it was almost impo.ssible to get them to take part. Since then they have lost all that, have learned the methods of doing their business properly, tho in despatch they can still improve, and we have seen them take a profound inter¬ est and a masterly part in finding and expressing the opinion of the church body. We have 'een them yield grace¬ fully to the will of the majority— a thing formely unthought of. We have seen them following the rules of church go¬ vernment, discussing their affairs care¬
fully, and with such interest that in one case they kept the the session going till two o’clock in the morning.lt is v/ell to remember that these people take their religion seriously.
W’hen the meetings were closed a re¬ presentative group of us went to pay our repects to the Municipality and call their attention formally to what had doubtless impressed them already, that 500 Evangelicals could meet at one place, spend three or four days in their religious feast, without a single assas¬ sination, wound, revolver shot, fight, fornication, quarrel or harsh word, and after attention to their affairs and en¬ joying themselves singing beautiful hymns, go home not with wounds, in¬ flamed features and ringing heads, but contented, laughing, happy and ready for immediate duties. We told them that this was better than the other way and they admitted the point. They had seen as some of us had, a Catholic cel¬ ebration of three times that number and not a sober man or woman among them ,with all the criminal accompani¬ ments, and the priest the star consumer of the stuff and the general of the whole disgraceful orgy in name of Jesus Christ!
The spirit and tone of this Confer¬ ence by its magnificent moral contrast, has produed a profound impression in the town. With the gospel already well planted there, with the porwerful per¬ sonality of Don Marcelino the first men¬ tioned Indian, and of Rev. Pedro Poz the newly ordained evangelist with the tendency of the Indians to follow when a break is once made, and with a uni¬ versal spiritual need that is appalling, it is not hard to predict the almost total conquest of that town in the near fu¬ ture years. The situation is most en¬ couraging. -H.
Kellogg Echoes
There is no telling where or to what extent a blunder in statesmanship will do harm. Our Secretary of State to protect the interests of a few doubtful Americans and get some advantages without paying much for them (landed a few marines in Nicaragua and roused the ire of Latin America from Tia Jua¬ na to Ushuaia, and roused all Americans who are not friends of imperialism and
GUATEMALA NEWS
3
bu'.lyistn. All other interests of every kind have to suffer the results of the blunder.
Here in Guatemala there have been numerous street manifiestations of an¬ ti- American feeling, not even except-, ing as obvious a philanthropy as our extensive hospital work. The whole Mission has to suffer.
In Quezaltenango where the moun¬ tain type of character is always extreme always demonstrative the ant-iAmerican feeling has been intense. Publications and demonstrations have been varied and virulent. They were indignant almost to foaming at the proposal made in the national congress to sell the electric Rail Road of the Altos to an American Company. Even the American dollar that went at par or even by preference before the Nicaragua affair, there¬ after suddenly dropped in Quezaltenan¬ go do 50% of its face value, and then stopped circulation.
But it is not the demonstrations that we worry over. It makes little dif¬ ference whether we buy our bread and clothes with dollars or depreciated pe¬ sos. But the opposition threatens to take a more virulent form. The enemies of the Mission everywhere are seeing to it that the full weight of anti- American feeling is concentrated on the American missionaries and their work.
An interesting illustration lately oc¬ curred in Quezaltenango. The Burgess¬ es are away on furlough, the Dyetts are appointed but not yet arrived, Mr. Peck is compelled to spend almost his entire time in that large and promising out-field. Miss Baker has been trans¬ ferred to the Capital as Principal of the Girls School there till Miss Williams re¬ turns all of which leaves Miss Morrison as the missionary factotum in that stormy city — a town that has no respect whatever for female authority.
The Police Judge a rabid opponent found out the situation and thought he saw how he could take advantage of the Anti-American feeling to hit us a body blow. He went snooping around the new Girls’School building, pretend¬ ing to examine its merit as a construct¬ ion, found fault with everything he could, even to the holes where the scaf¬ folding had been that had not been filled yet, as is always done in adobe construction, then got a commission
from the Municipality to come to pro¬ nounce against the construction. He him-self insisted that it all had to come down. We have spent $20,000 there.
The commission saw that he was going too far and did not endorse all his drastic antipathy, tho they too made all the criticism they could, part of which was just. Moreover Miss Mor¬ rison and the School and the Mission have many warm friends whose children have been well educated in the school, and who are proof against anti-Ameri¬ can feeling as applied to us, and the whole incident served to rally them to the help of Miss Morrison and to con¬ solidate and give direction to their sympathy. More over Miss Morrison was very prudent and did nothing said nothing and signed nothing without consulting one of the patrons of her school who is good lawyer. This law¬ yer insists that even were the Muni¬ cipality to order it torn down, it could not be done till it is so ordered by the minister of Education, thru the Jefe Politico, and all these are very friend¬ ly to our educational work, because they know what we are doing. None of all this would have happened but for the unjustifiable Nicaragua invasion .
Miss Morrison alarmed over the situ¬ ation had telegraphed to us here in the Capital for help, so the two oldest mis¬ sionaries took" Mr. Morgan an expert builder of the Capital, and went up and went over the building thoroly, finding not the walls but the objections without foundation.
There are some imperfections in the work as there are in all works of man, and some of these had been noted by Mr. Ford who is employed to complete the work, and these Mr. Morgan noted also and suggested the changes. The noise and smoke however was due not to arquitecture, but to international feeling, a feeling that is very unfor¬ tunate for all legitimate American interests. — H.
EVANGELISTIC
Train Work
The Romanists taking their cue from our success are adopting one of our methods, that of taking advantage of an already assembled crowd in the train
4
GUATEMALA NEWS
for distribution of literature.
The other day a young Romanist mounted the seat in the train and began to cry the merits of a leaflet he had which contained a wonderful prayer that would prevent family quarrels, fevers, snakebite, earthquake, fleas in short any ill that flesh or reputation is heir to.
He went into a car where about two dozen of our evangelicals were seated, returning from a funeral, and there his business went badly, badly. He asked all who were “good Catholics” to remove their hats. One hat only came off. Then when he finished his business talk and offered the wonderful leaflet for five pesos, he found he had run into a snow bank, because instead of sales, all there began to berate him for advocating those superstitions, and asked him why he didn’t take to preach¬ ing real Christianity as the apostles did. This led to a discussion in which he lost at every count, and the meeting was turned into a Protestant praise ser¬ vice, the charm vender singing along with the rest and promising to come and talk the matter over further out at the Industrial College, and he may come for he was undoubtedly interested.
He certainly ran into a bad lot of people for an ecclesiastical quack to handle. One man was an evangelist who has been working far and near, another was the Superintendent of our Sunday School in the Capital, and there were several other prominent workers all of them strong in the Bible. The poor little fellow was lost, for that group with their Bibles in hand would have been a match for the Pope himself. They had the immense advantage of being right. — H.
EDUCATIONAL
The Girls’ School in Guatemala.
We are pleased ta say that our school opened this year with fine prospects. On this first day of March we have en¬ rolled 92 pupils. Of this number there are 22 boys ranging in age from 5 years to 14. Two of the little ones are boarding pupils for which we have arranged a separate dormitory There are now 28 Boarding pupils 7 of whom do not come from homes of believers. Of the
whole group there is not one that has shown any disposition to spoil the good spirit of the school, though .several of the boys are 7'eal boys, rowdy, mis¬ chievous, rough in their play.
Of the day pupils there is a large number of new ones, whose parents say they have heard of the good work that the school has done and so want their children to grow up in the same atmosphere. Only one parent asked me if a child had to change her religion when she entered our school. As if ones heart, soul and beliefs could be changed by outward force. That father put his child with us, and I am pleased to say that she is changing her “reli¬ gion” remarkably fast though not by force.
She took a leading part in the chap¬ el worship last week and showed understanding of the Gospel having known it only these 5 weeks. We have a custom in this school of having the classes take turns in conducting the worship. Miss Williams was so suc¬ cessful with it that the teachers asked that it be continued this year. I wish you had been here this morning to have heard the third grade. Their subject was, “the tongue as a blessing and as a curse”. They began with the hymn, “Scatter Sunshine”. Then one of our Chinese girls read from the third chap¬ ter of James, that fine discourse on the bridling of the tongue. Then the boy who is half Turk and half Pa¬ namanian (and whose movements remind one of a young mule) offered an explanation of the reading. A Mex¬ ican girl, daughter of one of our long time, most humble believers offered a beautiful prayer. Then four girls with papers cut in the shape of the tongue and colored to represent the condition of the owner, told of the different clas¬ ses of tongues and what they could do of good and of bad character. Then, one girl with a bottle of small pellets of paper gave one to each saying that these were medicine for a badly affected tongue. The children read from these little papers some of the advice of great men regarding the proper use of the tongue. Then the class sangthehymn, “We will Please Christ”. It was indeed a most impressive and interesting pro¬ gram, and the children gave good at¬ tention. The teacher of this class is a
GUATEMALA NEWS
product of our school having begun in the Kindergarten with us. She is well trained, capable and alert, at¬ tractive and of a beautiful Christian character, as are most of our teachers. Only one is not a Believer and she is so quiet, attentive and interested that we feel sure our prayers are going to be answered soon by her conversion.
We need one scholarship for one of our oldest girls who is of a fine family which contributes much of their time and influence to their village church. To give you an idea of their poverty I will tell you that vhen the mother brought the child in January she said she was suffering with her teeth. This week she came back, but this time with a basket full of herbs that grew at her home to sell to get money for ex¬ tracting three teeth. This herb is used to cure smallpox, and as we have an epidemic on, she took adv^antage of the chance to sell and relieve her suffering.
Do pray that these one hundred chil¬ dren that are under our influence may go out at the end of the year so filled with the spirit of Christ and so ap¬ preciative of His character and of the Christ filled life, that the influence may be as a healing stream in the midst of of an afflicted land. Oh, how Guate¬ mala does need noble Christian cha¬ racter. -E. B.
MEDICAL
Word from Dr. Ainslie
“Since leaving that land of perpetual sunshine we have had nothing of the said sun.shine. California has thrown us down. It has been ‘unusual wea¬ ther’ ever since we got here. When we arrived it was the coldest it had been in years. Then last month we had the heaviest rainfall we had had for over twenty years so we have been trying to fan the fire with one hand and row a boat with the other to keep from freezing to death on the one side or from drowning on the other if you get what I mean, which I don’t.
But paregoricaly speaking from a hypodermical standpoint w'e have been enjoying the good old U. S. A. as much as we can. We have acquired a car and have been enjoying the good roads which are here in such profusion. They
remind us of the Guatemala roads, they are so different. Johnnie and Betty are growing fatter and rn.sier every day but still they, especially Johnnie keep wanting to kn<jw when we can go see the ‘hopital’ or ‘Stanley’ or ‘Viva’. It is not for mere mortals to suggest that Ruth ami and I are also increasing in weight. The clinics in los Los Angeles are taking up a good deal of my time and I go to see first one method and then another of treatment which may bring another convolution or two into my brain when we get back and get to work again.
Our plans? Havn’t any. We hope, if the weather is good, and finances also, to go back East in June and visit long suffering relatives but “quien sabe’’. 1 have received personal invitations from the Baltimore and Mayo heads to come and visit them and I hope to do so if we go East. Then back to Guatemala in the fall.
The work is constantly in our minds and hearts and the missionaries there on the field carrying on. We are glad that Dr. V/erner has so ably stepped in and carried the work and hope to work with him in the larger work and wider aims we have had set before us, when we get back to the field at the close of the year.
Yours in His Service. — A.
Alas, Alas!
The Hospital is in mourning. “Mike." the hospital dog, a noble big half collie that has grown to be such a feature of the institution and such a favorite of all —is no more. Apparently he went mad, bit several dogs near by and then bit one of the nurses and a porter, and ended his career by stopping a couple of well directed shots from the revolver of a policeman.
All feel a sense of loss for he was the pet of everyone, but the chief mourner is Dona Tea the elderly office clerk. She and Mike had adopted each other for better or for worse. Mike would see her home as regularly as the hour came, and she always saw to it that Mike lacked no care or attention that affectionate regard could grant. So the other day when we said something to Dona Tea by way of condolence over her loss she didn’t reply a word,but just
GUATEMALA NEWS
imckered up and bejfan to cry! Those <jf us who have lost affectionate family dogs, know what it means to poor Tea, lor Mike was father, mother and rela¬ tives to her.
The nurse and porter are fortunate in that we have a Pasteur Institute here in the City and they are taking the anti rabies injections.-- H.
Protestant Bull Fight
A well wisher of our Hospital wrote lately making a bona tide offer of stag¬ ing an amateur paid bull fight in benefit of the Hospital. This is often done for the Catholic hospitals, and was a well menat offer.
Contributors to our work who are a little slow in coming across should take notice of what we are liable to be driven to in order to make ends meet! A movie not long since made a similar offer of a benefit night.— H.
MISCELLANY
Five Tourist Snapshots
How like looking into a kaleidoscope the last months have been to us as we have traveled about! The pieces of colored glass, the basic passions, pre¬ judices, habits, tendencies, vices and virtues of mankind are very much the same the world over, but in what dif¬ ferent proportions, in what different relations and with what different em¬ phasis we see them set forth as we journey from land to land! We wish we might share all these changing pictures with our friends but since that is not possible we are going to send you five for the present through the columns of the Guatemala News.
The Caribbean. This picture is dis¬ tinctly “contrasty.” Black and white, luxury and poverty, English and Spanish, war and peace, heroism and baseness, all qualified by the most su¬ perlative adjectives, stand in vivid con¬ trast over against each other, through¬ out the Carribean. About all they have in common is that the odor of OIL exudes from them all. We visited several Mission Stations in this region among them some of our own Presby¬ terian Stations in Colombia and Vene¬ zuela. It is splendid service our Mis¬
sionaries are doing here. The odds are all against them. Climate works its havoc; Century-old prejudice, deepseat- ed in tradition and law are against them; modern political developments are for the most part against them; modern social and industrial develop¬ ments bring tliem no aid. But they go on with courage and with idealism holding up the banner of the Cross, faithful to the testimony of Jesus. Honor to whom honor is due! What¬ ever the odds against them, He is with them. It is this confidence that holds them to a thankless and to what men so often judge a hopeless task.
Protestantism in Germany. Ru¬ mors had drifted down to us in Central America of the dire straits of the Ger¬ man Protestant Churches since the war. It was said that due to the Se¬ paration of Church and State, coupled with the general demoralized condi- tian of finances throughout the country, churches were being closed, pastors were starving etc. We were happily surprised to discover that such was not the case. The income of the Churches, of missionary societies etc. are well above the prewar level. Pastors, sa¬ laries enable them to live confortabl.v and are higher than formerly. Through¬ out the country extensive repairs and alterations on Church buildings are un¬ der construction. But what is of far more importance is that the whole tone of German Church life and preaching has changed. The contrast between the Christian and the “world” has come more distinctly into view. The mes¬ sages of the German pulpit are more spiritual and therefore more powerful than formerly. In the hold the Ger¬ man Churches have upon their own members, in their grasp of spiritual truth and in their application of it to the / life of the day as compared with con¬ ditions as we knew them in 1911, we ■ would venture to assert that the church- ; es are 50% stronger than then. Add / to this that the old separate organiza-l tions are now uniting in a great body which stands as the conscious heir and representative of the Reformation and we have every reason for encourge- ment as to the present status of Pro¬ testantism in Germany.
Romanism in Italy. The power of the Hierarchy in Italy and the hold that
GUATEMALA NEWS
7
the Roman form of faith has upon its own people has been impressed upon us. The long history of the Papacy upon Italian soil, the glory that accrues to the mother of popes from the distant dominions of the Church, the super¬ stitions which still bind the masses of of the people to Romanism, the utter warping of the content and sense of the Gospel in the minds of the adherents of the papal system, the failure of all “reform” movements in the past to in¬ fluence the trend of ecclesiastical devel¬ opment all speak of how hard it will be for Italy to turn from the old paths. Especially today when Liberalism in general is under shadow in Italy, the picture appears dark indeed. But in reality the situatinn is no worse today than formerly. The Waldensians and other evangelical bodies continue to give their testimony and Italy is being leavened, slowly but surely.
Egipt. Standing before monuments which were centuries old in the time of Abraham and in the shadow of olielisks which shaded Moses when he was being taught in all the wisdom of the Egyp¬ tians, how modern our Christicin era does seem! When the worship of Ptah intrenched as it was behind heavy endowments and age-old prejudices, had to succumb at last after 4000 years ofpround domination who should worry about eddies of religious thot and prac¬ tise that extend over a century or two or a millenium or two in Christianity? If Egypt teaches one lesson it is that the things that really endure in human his¬ tory are the things of the spirit. And because we know that our Lord knoweth our frame and speaketh to our need as no other, we have no fear fur the futu¬ re of His dominion.
Religion in Egypt. We had read of how degenerate the Coptic Church was but coming from the Roman Catholic Churches of Guatemala to those of the Coptic Faith and Order in Egypt we have found the latter veritable angels of light. No enforced celibacy of the clergy, no claim to a power of the keys, no masses for the dead, no images for adoration in the churches, the Commun¬ ion administered to the laity in both parts, a readiness to recognize and co¬ operate with other Christian bodies, the Bible in the venacular encouraged in the hands of all its people,, verily that
seemed too good to be true. Evange¬ lical Christianity too after 70 years of work on the part of the United Pre.s- byterian Church, is in a flourishing con¬ dition. A fully self-sustaining Egypt¬ ian Church, organized as a Synod with four Presbyteries, a well educated na¬ tive ministry, various organizations and institutions under the Church, among them a splendid theological seminary on the one hand and on the other excel¬ lent schools, colleges, hospitals, orpha¬ nages etc. conducted by the missiona¬ ries all set a standard that other mis¬ sions will probably be long in attaining.
But when all is said we must acknow¬ ledge that only the surface of our Christian task has been scratched or perhaps better that tho the machinerj is fairly well prepared the job it has to do is scarcely begun. Only one tenth of the Egyptians bear the name of Christians. Nine tenths are followers of “The Prophet.”_ To be sure these have been greatly influenced oy Chris¬ tian thot and institutions. The govern¬ ing class has little to do with Mohame- tanism as a faith. Muslims as a rule are quite as inclined to be negligent of their religious duties as are Christians so-called. Yet comparatively few Mo- hametans become Christians. The “break” appears to be imminent. I aith, prayer, and constancy in work and life must bring it.— P. B.
Our Absentees
What are they doing?Presumably they are doing like the geese in the college song,” eating grass in peace and ac¬ cumulating grease, over there!
Dr. and Mrs. Ainslie admit the jolly impeachment right out (see Dr’s let¬ ter under Medical), Mrs. Nurmmger and Miss Williams wouldn’t admit it anyway, would blame it on the scales,
and the Burgesses by very temperament
will always be a divided familj on the weight question. But whatever the scales say we hope they will all come swinging back in due time with a tre¬ mendous accumulation of consecrated energy, for it is needed badly.
A good long letter from Miss V\i- lliams tells of her joy at the family reunion, and of opportunities to pre¬ sent her work.
Word from Mrs. Nurminger’s mother
8
GUATEMALA NEWS
who is- suffering from cancer is not at all reassuring. Our prayers for her and we ask yours. How fortunate we are in having Miss Chapin to go right on with that important work in Mrs. N s. enforced absence.
Dr. Burgess’s most interesting notes in his old world trip, in this numbm-, are sure to be read with interest. H.
pensive experiment and with sacred funds at that. A lost world has no time to fool with tasters and experimenters.
GUATEMALA NEWS
ORGAN OF THE GUATEMALA MISSION ED. M. HAYMAKER, Editor Apartado 387 - Guatemala, Central America.
ZT _ Tip. “El Mensajero” —Guatemala. - ^
Want to be a Missionary?
It is very serious work. Have you infinite patience? Can you “stoop to conquer’ ’, adopt the life of those you are tn work among, getand give sympathy, get their viewiioint, can you incarnate and tho a God become a tired sweating carpenter? Can you become stone blind to defects of theirs and alert for the detection and developoment of virtues? Can you stand persecution and calumny and endure the coti'adiction of sinners against yourself? Can you suppress vour snap-shot judgment till you have 'waited and learned? Can you forget self and become absorbed in then- welfare Your career must be all this or failure.
If you fail think of the disappoint¬ ment to your friends, your church, yourself, the Board, the missionaries who will be so rejoiced at the news of rein forcement.
Then there will be the disastrous de lay entailed. Missionaries are appointed to the different fields in turn, and if you use up your field^s turn, it is shut oii from another chance till the wheel goes clear round, unless some special ar¬ rangement is made which usually is not Conditions on the field are urgent and critical, and a missionary is not appomt- till more than necessary. If you go all the way to the field to find out whe¬ ther you are a missionary or not, you may find out alright, but look what you will have done to get that little infor¬ mation you should have got before you started. By no means allow yourselt to be so ignorant of these essential facts or so self-centered as to say, “Well. I’ll try it out anyway, and it 1 don’t iike it I’ll come home.’’ That means you are willing to put God s work on the plane of ordinary business and SO are willing to step into the right person's job and keep him out and re- tard the work probably for years. Think it thru well. It is an enormously ex-
Any one wishing to receive THE GUATEMA¬ LA NEWS regularly will be entered as a sub¬ scriber upon his sending exact name and address, legibly written or typed, and the sum of fifty cents, to E. M. Haymaker, Warrensburg, Mo. This will not pay for the publication and posting, so a voluntary additional contribution of fifty cents or more is encouraged.
OUR WHO’S WHO
Charles A. Ainslie, M. D. (1922). Guatemala City, medical work. Hospital. On forlough.--- A.
Mrs. Ruth McConneli Ainshe R. N^.. ('^221. Guatemala, trained nurse. On furlough. K. A.
Miss Ethel Baker (1924), Guatemala City, edu- cational work.
Mrs, Dora McLaughlin Burgess (1913) Que- zaltenango, Indian work. On furlough. D. M. B.
Rev. Paul Burgess, Ph. D. (1913), Qu^alte- nango. Superintendent of Indian \vork Editor of El Noticiero Evangelico. On furlough. P. B.
Miss Genevieve Daglish Chapin, R. N. (1926) Guatemala. Hospital. O. u. c.
Rev E M. Haymaker, D. D. (1S84), Guatemala, educational work, Editor of Guatemala News and El Mensajero. Mgr. Press plant. «■
Mrs. Amy Ridderhof Hillis (1924), Guatemala, Boys’ Industrial School. A. R. H-
Mr. Fred Hillis (1924), Guatemala, Principal
Boys'lndustrial School. H-
Miss Eleanor Morrison (1915), Quezaltenan- cro, Principal Girls’ School.
Mrs. Besse M. Nurminger R. N. (1922), Gua¬ temala City, On furlough. Hospital. B. M. N.
Mrs. Dorothy Miller Peck (1922). S. Juan Os- tuncaleo. Mam Indian work. R-
Rev Horace Dudley Peck, M. A. (1922) S^ Juan Ostuncalco, Mam Indian Work. f-
Miss Rex Sharp, (1926) Boys’ School Guatema^- la City, (Employed only) l*-
Mrs Jessie Kennedy Sullenberger (1911). Gua¬ temala City; Evangelistic and TeacVimg J. K. b. Rev. Linn P. Sullenberger M. A. (1911), Guate mala City; evangelistic work. Treasurer. L. P. b.
Mr. and Mrs. Yard Wallace, (Employed only,) (1925) Physics and Mechanics, Boys
MlsrERa^M.^illiams (191'7). GuatemMa.Trm- cipal Girls’ School. On furlough. E. M. W.
Elmer Werner M. D. (1926), Guatemala, me¬ dical work. Hospital . Pnkte'
Mrs. Gertrude Brestel Werner (1926) Guate¬ mala, home, and Girls School.
N B Articles in the Guatemala News appe^
over the indicated initials of their responsible authors.
Saturday, May 21, 1927.
INFORMATION SERVICE
Published Weekly, Except During August, by the
Department of Research and Education Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America 105 East 22nd Street, New York, N. Y.
Price, $2.00 Per Year Volume VT, Number 21
The Federal Council of the Cluirches of Christ in America is a federation of twenty-eight national religious bodies through which they are rendering united service. Articles appearing herein furnish information on current issues and are not to be construed as declarations of ofhcial attitudes or policies of the Federal Council of Churches.
Entered as second class matter January 4, igsi, at the fostoffice at New York, New York, under act of March }, iS^g,
The Mexican- American Oil and Land Controversy
Foreword
This is strictly an informational document. In preparing it an earnest effort has been made to discover the relevant facts with reference to the present controversy between the United States government and the government of Mexico. Its purpose is not to express a judgment as to the course either nation should follow, but to report upon the facts and to define and clarify the issues with refer¬ ence to established principles and precedents in inter¬ national relations.
The present Mexican-American situation involves and illustrates certain general principles regarding the prob¬ lems of international relations and of war and peace, con¬ cerning wbich the churches have clear convictions. Not, however, until they are adequately informed regarding the exact nature of the issues involved are they in posi¬ tion to form moral judgments. The present document is offered as an aid to clear thinking upon these issues.
In the preparation of the report a large amount of docu¬ mentary material has been examined and information has been secured from many personal sources. The report was submitted in tentative draft to representatives of the State Department, the Mexican government and the American oil companies, and to experts in the legal ques¬ tions involved. While the persons consulted bear no re¬ sponsibility for the content of the report, careful account has been taken of all representations made and of all points of view presented.
I. Elements of Controversy
The American government came into controversy with the Mexican government as a result of the adoption, in 1917, of a new constitution by the Republic of Mexico which contained certain provisions affecting the rights of foreigners in Mexico that have been held by the American government to be confiscatory and contrary to interna¬ tional law. Four major points are involved in the con¬ troversy.
1. The expropriation of real estate holdings involving American titles without proper compensation, and the nationalization of subsoil petroleum rights claimed by Americans under the mining laws of 1884, 1892 and 1909. The American government regarded the procedure as
plain confiscation of property and of property rights. In December, 1926, the State Department gave the figure of “agrarian expropriations” as 508. The oil rights involved represent the larger part of the recent production in Mexico.
2. The requirement that nationals of other countries may not acquire oumership in lands or waters, nor obtain concessions to develop mines or mineral fuels in Mexico unless they accept the status of Mexicans with respect to their property, relinquishing all right, under penalty of forfeiture, to appeal to their own governments to secure for them by diplomatic action what the Mexican govern¬ ment does not grant them. This is the “Calvo clause.”
3. The question whether certain understandings ar¬ rived at in 1923, hereinafter explained, by commissioners representing both governments, constituted a binding agreement on the part of the Mexican government to protect American property rights and whether these understandings constituted a condition of the diplomatic recognition which was accorded shortly afterward.
4. Out of the controversy over these questions arises a fourth contention as to whether, assuming that confisca¬ tion may result from the economic program adopted by the Mexican government, the requirements of interna¬ tional law are met by the payment of damages in each case, or whether the United States has a right under international law to demand a change in Mexican law and policy.
The Mexican government has consistently denied that Article 27 of the Constitution is retroactive but has per¬ sisted in the position that recognition of the Mexican government by the United States in 1923 was uncondi¬ tional, and that the understandings arrived at previously, not being in the nature of a treaty, did not constitute an obligation on the part of succeeding governments. At the same time, the Mexican government insists that the Calles administration has not departed in any essen¬ tial way from the assurances given the American com¬ missioners by the Obregon administration.
The Mexican government protests its readiness to settle any damages that may be assessed for injuries sustained by American property holders as a result of the operation of its laws, but denies the right of the government of the United States to interfere in the internal affairs of Mexico.
Saturday, May SI, 19S7.
The heart of the controversy is over the question of retroactivity, or, more specifically, the question of con¬ fiscation. The American government has demanded assurances on this point of a definite and permanent sort, and has not been satisfied with declarations of the executive power or with past decisions of the Mexican courts.
II. The Historical Background
111 order to grasp the real significance of the disturbed situation in Mexico, one needs, first of all, to know cer¬ tain facts about the Mexican people and Mexican history. The population, as reported in the 1910 census, was 15,- 160,369. As to the relative size of population groups, perhaps the estimate made by a German student of the subject in 1912 is as reliable as any. It is as follows; Mestizos (mixed bloods), 55.5 per cent; Indians, 33.3 per cent; Spanish, Creoles, etc., 11.1 per cent. More re¬ cent estimates give a larger proportion of Indians, but the mestizos apparently still form the largest single group. The heterogeneity of the population, both racial and cul¬ tural, is doubtless a significant factor in the national life.
The conquest of Mexico by Cortez beginning in 1519 imposed on the Indian population a Spanish ruling aris¬ tocracy and hierarchy. The.se rulers became possessed of large estates, some covering hundreds of square miles, which in time came to be governed by relatively irre¬ sponsible and incompetent underlings. This resulted in conditions under which the native population was very greatly diminished. For more than a hundred years however, the population trend has been upward.
When independence from Spain was secured in 1821 the people were not prepared for self-government. A century of revolution has followed with oppression, mis- government and misery. Partisan politics, favoritism and personal ambition have been rife, with their inevitable consequences to the intellectual, social and economic life of the nation.
This unfortunate condition is in large part due to the land systems that have prevailed in Mexico. Before the coming of the Spaniards, through the colonial period and down to the Diaz regime in the latter part of the last century the Indians had lived, in large part, in villages that were endowed with inalienable communal lands, which constituted the villagers’ principal source of live¬ lihood. The most important form of communal holding, the ejido, still survives and is a prominent feature of the present government’s land program.
Alongside this communal system, however, there have existed large hereditary estates, now known as hacieudas. The reform movement which develojied about the middle of the last century had as one of its objectives a decen¬ tralization of land ownership and this program was partly carried out. With the advent of Porfirio Diaz, however, in 1876, this policy was reversed. He promulgated laws which tended to create a monopoly of public lands in the hands of a few. Speculation in land became rife, and the acquisition of homesteads decreased proportionately. It is conservatively estimated that during the Diaz regime the disposition of national lands exceeded 125,- 000,000 acres.
In contrast with this process of building up landed estates was the division of the communal lands into small individual holdings, a movement which began under Jaurez and continued under Diaz. The purpose of this program
was to create a large number of small holdings, but the dominant. policy of the Diaz administration resulted in strengthening the privileged landed class of hacendados, while the laboring class suffered a corresponding degree of economic degradation.
A recent estimate of the size of the haciendas gives 300 of them 25,000 acres each; 116, at least 62,500 acres each; 51. about 75,000 acres each; while 11 are believed to contain 250,000 acres each. All told, the haciendas numbered in 1910, 8,245.
In contrast to the hacienda is the rancho containing less than 2,500 acres, and corresjxinding, in general, to the idea of a homestead. The number of these is given in the census of 1910 as 47,939.
The net result of the agrarian policies and laws of IMexico, culminating in reckless disposal of public lands during the Diaz regime, was highly disastrous to the com¬ mon man. Out of 2,334,472 heads of families in 1910, about 97 per cent were landless and many of them were in a deplorable condition. Although the Diaz regime re¬ sulted in a marked material improvement, the country was in worse condition in 1910, from the point of view of land ownership, than it had ever been. A conservative authority states that the revolution would not have been possible had it not been for the “vast army of Indians and mestizos who had no soil, crops, houses nor cattle’’ and who had nothing to lose and hoped to gain much through the overthrow of the Diaz government.
While these conditions among the native population were developing, foreign investors were discovering and possessing the natural resources of the land and were popularly represented as taking the whole of their gains out of the country and giving no heed to the needs of the people. This, of course, was not fair. Foreign com¬ panies point with satisfaction to the wealth they have left in Mexico in payment for labor, etc., and in taxes — 75 cents, one large petroleum company reports, of every dollar it received during the last five years. But the picture which the people saw was one of unmitigated exploitation at the hands of foreigners.
American investments in Mexico have been variously estimated. Probably the most recent and authoritative estimate is the following, given by the Assistant Secretary of State and Chief of Consular Affairs, in testimony before the House Committee on Appropriations when giv¬ ing reasons for increased consular appropriations, etc.:
|
Rural Property . Urban Property . Oil lands . Refineries . |
|
|
Manufacturing enterprises . . . Merchandising enterprises . . . . |
|
|
Miscellaneous investments not |
included above. 125,242,000 |
|
Total . |
III. Sketch of the Revolution (1910-1924)
In November, 1910, Francisco Madero, Jr., started a revolution. Diaz resigned and sailed for France, where he died in poverty on July 2, 1915. Madero became presi-
I2]
Saturday, May 21, 1927.
dent on November 6, 1911. He shortly had a revolt on his hands, however, which he was enabled to crush when President Taft, pursuant to an act of the American Con¬ gress passed March 14, 1912, declared an embargo on arms.
General Victoriano Huerta, who had taken command of the federal forces, was the instrument of Madero’s victory. Presently, however, he turned against Madero, who was forced to resign and was killed on February 22, 1913. General Huerta became the head of a military oligarchy, and adopted an administrative policy that re¬ sembled the Diaz policy more than that which he himself had proclaimed.
General Venustiano Carranza promptly opposed Huerta and led a revolt, supported by ten states, which stood for the Constitution of 1857. He was joined by Francisco Villa.
President Wilson, in February, 1914, lifted the arms embargo which had been declared by President Taft in 1912. This was done in order to force the retirement of Huerta. He also ordered the United States naval forces to take possession of the Vera Cruz Customs House. Huerta fled to France in July, 1914. He later entered the United States, and died in El Paso, Texas.
General Carranza entered Mexico City (August 20, 1914) as the “First Chief of the Constitutionalist Army in charge of the Executive Power,’’ but he met with resistance, notably from Generals Villa and Zapata, which resulted in continued turmoil and warfare. Between September, 1914, and Eebruary, 1915, Mexico City changed hands six times. On October 19, 1915, Car¬ ranza was given de facto recognition by the American government and eight associated Latin-American repub¬ lics. At the same time an embargo was declared on ship¬ ments of arms from America to any other than Carranza forces. In March, 1916, Villa sacked the town of Colum¬ bus, N. M., presumably as reprisal for the de facto recognition of Carranza, and killed a number of Amer¬ ican citizens. This was followed by the Pershing expe¬ dition, which was unsuccessful, and by clashes with the troops of Carranza which culminated in a note from Secretary Lansing to Carranza, on June 20, 1916, cataloging grievances of the United States against Mex¬ ico. American militia were mobilized on the border. The Mexican government proposed a meeting of commis¬ sioners of the two governments to compose their differences. This proposal was accepted. The commis¬ sioners met in New London and Atlantic City and con¬ ferred until January, 1917, over the question of protection of American rights and property in Mexico. The con¬ ference appears to have been without result.
During this time Carranza was holding a “Constituent .Assembly’’ at Queretaro which promulgated the new Con¬ stitution, effective May 1, 1917, the document which is the chief cause of the present controversy. Carranza was inaugurated as President on May 1, 1917.
It is charged that this whole proceeding of Carranza’s was itself not only in violation of the Constitution of 1857 of which he had proclaimed himself a supporter, but high-handed in the extreme. However, the resulting Constitution of 1917 is admittedly, whether by virtue of constitutional reform or purely revolutionary tactics, the only constitution the nation now has and from the point of view of international law the question of its legality is perhaps academic.
Dissatisfaction with the Carranza administration led^ to Carranza’s withdrawal to Vera Cruz and to the occupation of Mexico City by General Obregon on May 9, 1920. Carranza was assassinated shortly afterward. Congress thereupon elected Adolfo de la Huerta provisional presi¬ dent, but at the general election Obregon was chosen. He was inaugurated on December 1, 1920.
During 1920, de la Huerta came to terms with General Villa. However, Villa was killed hv political enemies in July, 1923.
In the general election of 1924, General Plutarco Calles, one of President Obregon’s trusted followers, was elected President for four years. He was inaugurated on Decem¬ ber 1, 1924.
IV. Objectives of the Revolution
The revolution of Madero had been, at the start, polit¬ ical. It was a revolt against Diaz the dictator, and his small group of advisors and supporters who constituted a “closed political corporation.’’ “Effective suffrage ; no reelection’’ was the slogan of the uprising. It attracted, however, but a small minority of the people.
The deeper objective of the revolution was socio¬ economic. It sought to remedy the condition of the masses of the people, which had become deplorable, and in fact intolerable. Madero’s declaration that he wished to “re¬ store to their former owners the lands of which they were dispossessed in such arbitrary manner,’’ whether sincere or not, was what rallied the downtrodden masses and gave the revolution a driving force that is apparently still strong.
As the revolution advanced and the ideas, objectives and programs of the leaders became more definite, the government undertook to deal with several distinct sets of problems.
1. The Agrarian Problem — that of restoring agricul¬ tural land to the landless Indians and building them up as a middle class.
2. The Industrial Problem — that of protecting indus¬ trial workers from exploitation, and providing proper conditions of labor, wages, etc. In this connection, it should be said that in some cases, at least, the status (wages and living conditions) of the workers had been improved with the development of the oil and mining industries. A paternalistic policy, however, did not satisfy the leaders of the revolution.
3. The Economic Problem — that of developing the country’s resources with the greatest possible advantage to the nation. Mexico is potentially one of the richest areas in the world.
4. The Educational Problem — that of giving practical education to the entire population, fitting them for whole¬ some social, industrial, agricultural and intellectual life and for real self-government.
5. The Church Problem — that of dealing with the rela¬ tions of church and state.
6. The Political Problem — that of maintaining the existence of the government against counter-revolutionary efforts and of extending its support among the people at large.
7. The International Problem — that of adjusting the nation’s foreign policy to its economic program. This task was conceived to be Ae preventing of foreign investment*
Saturday, May 21, 1927.
from becoming a form of, or cause for, foreign domina¬ tion.
The multiplicity, complexity and inherent difficulty of these problems have inevitably prevented immediate or even rapid solution. The more pressing problems have been taken first, such as the agrarian and industrial questions. The law regulating the exploitation of oil deposits, pur¬ suant to the provisions of the new Constitution, was pro¬ mulgated on December 31, 1925, and the alien land law, January 21, 1926.
d'he several problems enumerated above are inter¬ related and a study of the entire situation would be neces¬ sary to a full understanding of any one phase of it. The present document, however, deals only with the con¬ troversy growing out of the land and oil program of the Itlexican government.
V. Beginnings of the Controversy
As early as January, 1916, the American government made representations to the Carranza government, con¬ cerning a decree which was understood to be forthcoming, nationalizing petroleum. The State Department pointed out to the Mexican government “in unequivocal terms the dangerous situation which might result from the is¬ suance of any decree of a confiscatory character.”
Word was shortly received from General Carranza that “the government is not contemplating the issuance of a decree nationalizing the petroleum industry.” It appears, however, that while this was technically correct, since nationalization by decree was not attempted, the govern¬ ment was pursuing a policy which involved the national¬ ization of petroleum by constitutional change.
In August, 1916, the Me.xican government announced its policy of requiring that foreigners who propose to ac¬ quire real estate, or permits for “exploration or exploita¬ tion of the natural riches . . . shall present beforehand in writing . . .a formal express declaration that in
their capacity as proprietors or concessionaries . they consider themselves Mexicans, waiving their rights as foreigners and privileges of appeal for protection or claim to their respective governments.”
The State Department promptly informed the Mex¬ ican government that it would not recognize the validity of any such waiver on the part of American citizens.
On August 2, 1917, Ambassador Fletcher wired the State Department as follows :
“Confidential. In interview with President this morn¬ ing I informed him that American oil and mining interests were concerned with regard to the attitude of the Mexican government with reference to the so-called nationalization of these industries. In reply he assured me that they need not be; that it was not the intention of the Mexican government to take over projierties now in exploitation and distinctly stated that there would be no confiscation of these properties.”
VI. The Constitution of 1917
The Constitution of 1917, the promulgation of which brought the controversy to a head, for the most part fol¬ lowed that of 1857. Article 27, however, dealing with the property rights of individuals and of civil and re¬ ligious corporations, was expanded to ten times its original length and contained many new provisions, among them :
The division of large estates, and the development of small holdings.
The re-establishment of communal lands in connection with small rural settlements.
The nationalization of petroleum. This policy reversed that established by the mining laws of 1884, 1892, and 1909 the net result of which, as generally understood, was to recognize the proprietorship of oil deposits on the part of the owners of the surface, and thus to permit them to develop petroleum deposits without securing con¬ cessions therefor from the federal government. This in¬ terpretation has been challenged, as will apjiear later, and this is one of the issues of the controversy.
The granting of concessions to foreign individuals to exploit mineral and petroleum subsoil resources, but only under conditions stated in the clauses quoted below.
The part of Article 27 of the Constitution of 1917 which forms the basis of recent land and oil legislation, now under discussion, reads as follows: “In the nation is vested direct ownership of all minerals or substances which in veins, layers, masses, or beds constitute dejxisits whose nature is different from the components of the land, such as minerals from which metals and metaloids used for industrial purposes are extracted ; beds of pre¬ cious stones, rock salt and salt lakes formed directly by marine waters, products derived from the decomposition of rocks, when their exploitation requires underground work; phosphates which may be used for fertilizers; solid mineral fuels ; petroleum and all hydro-carbons — solid, liquid, or gaseous. . . .
“Only Mexicans by birth or naturalization and Mexican companies have the right to acquire ownership in lands, waters and their appurtenances, or to obtain concessions to develop mines, waters or mineral fuels in the Republic of Mexico. The nation may grant the same right to foreigners, provided they agree before the Department of Foreign Affairs to be considered Mexicans in respect to such property, and accordingly not to invoke the protec¬ tion of their governments in respect of the same, under penalty, in case of breach, of forfeiture to the nation of property so acquired. Within a zone of 100 kilometers from the frontiers, and of 50 kilometers from the sea- coast, no foreigner shall under any conditions accpiire direct ownership of lands and waters.”
VII. The Amparo Cases
The now famous amparo (injunction) cases were de¬ cided in 1921-1922 by the Mexican Supreme Court. The amparos were sued for in the Me.xican courts by the oil companies to enjoin the government from applying the provisions of Article 27 of the Constitution to the detri¬ ment of petroleum rights acquired under the mining laws of Mexico already referred to. The pertinent provisions of these laws are stated below.
The law of 1884 sharply distinguishes, with respect to their ownership, coal, petroleum and certain other minerals from metals — gold, silver, lead, manganese, etc. With reference to mines and placers of the metals enumerated the law states that they “form a piece of real estate distinct from the land in which, or beneath whose surface, they are situated, even though they may become the property of the owner of said land.” With reference to coal, petroleum and certain other substances it is declared that they are “of the exclusive ownership of the owner of the
Saturday, May 21, 1927.
land, who may therefore exploit and utilize them without the need of denouncement or of special adjudication.”
The law of 1892 omits the explicit statement with refer¬ ence to ownership of coal, petroleum, etc., but states that “mine ownership lawfully acquired and such as may be acquired in accordance with this law shall be irrevocable and perpetual, by means of payment of the federal prop¬ erty tax, in accordance with the provisions of the law establishing said tax.”*
The law of 1909 once more distinguishes clearly be¬ tween metals, which are declared to be “of the direct ownership [dominio directo] of the nation,” and mineral fuels, coal deposits, etc., which are declared to be “of the e.xclusive ownership [propiedad exclusiva] of the owner of the soil.”
In Mexican law five decisions of an identical character constitute a “precedent,” and much importance has there¬ fore been attached to the aniparo decision handed down in October, 1920, in the Texas Oil Company case, and the four subsequent decisions of identical import, declaring that Article 27 of the Constitution was not retroactive — ■ did not affiect rights acquired prior to May 1, 1917. The Supreme Court decided that where “positive acts” had been performed and rights had thus been “acquired” before the Constitution went into full efifect, the properties were exempt from the operation of Article 27. (By a “positive act” is meant either some act of actual initial exploitation or an act clearly showing intent to exploit.) The Court therefore decided the cases at bar in favor of the oil companies and against the government. f
The Supreme Court decided, in effect, that the mining law of 1909 had offered to the owners of the surface the right to exploit oil lying beneath their lands but that unless acceptance of this offer was evidenced by some “positive act” of exploration, the offer could be with¬ drawn, and was withdrawn by the Constitution of 1917. From the American point of view the “positive act” doc¬ trine was a mere device that was being imported into the controversy. On its face the law of 1909 appears to be subject to no such involved interpretation as the Supreme Court handed down. Obviously such an interpretation is wholly foreign to the American understanding of the rights acquired under the law of 1909. There was no intimation from any source when the law was passed that the rights it defined were limited in any such man¬ ner. The British government had protested the Car¬ ranza decree of February 19, 1918, declaring that its provisions are “in the opinion of the government of His Majesty in oi:)en conflict with laws and contracts in force, according to which considerable investments of British capital have been made in petroleum-bearing lands and in the petroleum industry in Mexico,” and that “it would be contrary to the principles of the Mexican Constitu¬ tion and those of justice to separate surface rights from subsoil rights which now belong to those land owners who have invested capital in the p>etroleum-producing zone.” The French government made a similar protest.
* The precise reference of this clause is not clear and from the view¬ point of the Mexican Government, the omission of any reference to owner¬ ship of subsoil deposits indicates that there is a reservation here in the intent of the law- However, the matter would seem to be covered by the explicit provisions of the law of 1909.
t It is interesting to note in this connection that the Court called attention to the wording of Article 14 of the Constitution: **No law shall be given retroactive effect to the prejudice of any person whatsoever.” The Court pointed out that this provision relates not to the passing of laws but to their application, thus standing in contrast to the corresponding clause of the old Constitution which stated that no retroactive law should be enacted.
The . oil companies contend, and one of the notes of Secretary Hughes expressly stated, that the amparo de¬ cisions were inadequate. They rendered conditional what had been considered unconditionally held titles. More¬ over, on lands where no “positive act” had been per¬ formed, the decisions left the landholders quite without j^etroleum rights. The five amparo decisions constituted a “precedent,” but one binding only on the lower courts. Hence, even within the realm of the security which they oflfered, the oil companies felt that they had no judicial or legal warrant that the government would not in the future act again in a manner contrary to the principles laid down by the Supreme Court.
Nevertheless, since the IHexican Supreme Court is the final authority in interpreting Mexican law, an attempt was made to accommodate the American position to tbe court decision.
VHI. Hughes-Pani Correspondence over Recognition
Formal recognition of the Obregon government was earnestly desired by Mexico and was seriously consid¬ ered by the United States. Nine long notes on this sub¬ ject were exchanged between the two governments during 1921-23.
Secretary Hughes proposed a treaty of amity and com¬ merce which among other things would declare that nothing in the Constitution and laws of Mexico would be given retroactive and confiscatory effect. Such a treaty, it was thought, would give the authoritative assur¬ ances desired by the United States. Also it would auto¬ matically secure recognition. Mr. Hughes submitted with his note the draft of such a treaty.
Minister Pani replied in successive notes that the text of the proposed treaty of amity and commerce violated Article 27 of the Mexican Constitution ; that it would compromise and affront the honor, dignity and sovereign¬ ty of Mexico to secure recognition on the basis of a pledge ; that the Constitution itself (Article 14) provides for nonretroactivity ; that President Obregon was per¬ sonally committed to that principle ; that the correct pro¬ cedure was to observe the actual working of the laws, and particularly the judgments of the Supreme Court in cases involving this question in order to see whether con¬ fiscation might actually occur ; that in any case the Presi¬ dent could not sign nor the Congress ratify a treaty contrary to the Constitution; and that even if the President were to sign a treaty. Congress would not ratify it if it were in any way humiliating, or appeared like a measure forced on a small country by a powerful neighbor.
Secretary Hughes replied, pointing out that the Mex¬ ican government was in error in charging that the pro¬ posed treaty violated Article 27 of the new Constitution ;
“With regard to the proposed treaty of amity and com¬ merce, I note that Mr. Pani still insists that it would be in violation of the Constitution of Mexico, but I am unable to ascertain to what provisions of the treaty Mr. Pani refers in urging this objection. The treaty was intended to do no more than to give in a binding and suitable man¬ ner the assurances which General Obregon has been will¬ ing, as Mr. Pani’s quotations make evident, to give in per¬ sonal interviews and letters. In my last communication,
I specifically dealt with all the provisions of the proposed
[5]
Saturday, May 21, 1927.
treaty to which Mr. Pani has called attention as involving constitutional infringement and I regret that Mr. Pani has seen fit neither to reply to these comments nor to point out any other provisions of the treaty which could be re¬ garded as open to any such objection.
“I am therefore compelled to reach the conclusion that the objection to the proposed treaty is not to be found in its terms, which could readily be made to meet any objec¬ tion of the sort above advanced, provided only it embodied proper assurances against confiscation in harmony with General Obregon’s repeated statements. Rather, as 1 understand the matter, it is insisted that the signing of such a treaty would not be in harmony with the public sentiment of Mexico and that it would not be ratified by the Mexican Senate.” Mr. Hughes also said; “Without the slightest disposition to question the sincerity of Gen¬ eral Obregon’s purpose in making the statements to which Mr. Pani directs repeated attention, it cannot be over¬ looked that no adequate governmental action has yet been taken to secure the valid titles acquired prior to May 1, 1917; that American citizens have complained, and con¬ tinue to complain, that their subsoil rights acquired prior to that date are not being respected; and that Article 27 of the Mexican Constitution is being applied retroactively, even recently, to the injury of American citizens who have been deprived of their property without just compensa¬ tion. Although General Obregon’s personal promises are declared by Mr. Pani to be a ‘voluntary and solemn obliga¬ tion’ undertaken ‘before the entire world,’ still it is a notorious fact which can be substantiated by numerous cases, if necessary, that American interests in Mexico have been subjected to arbitrary governmental acts throughout the year and a half of General Obregon’s regime in flagrant disregard of this solemn promise.”
Minister Pani in two long notes interpreting Mexican history and agrarian conditions, acknowledged that many of the specifications were correct but declared that wrongs would be righted. Mr. Pani proposed in the very first note, and afterwards repeatedly, the establishment of joint claims commissions, as a substitute for the treaty proposal. The exchange of notes issued in a diplomatic deadlock.
IX. The United States-Mexican Commission of 1923
Correspondence having failed, the two governments next resorted to a commission, each appointing two representa¬ tives, for the discussion of their differences. They met in Mexico City (May 14-August 15, 1923) and held many extended sessions. The entire ground was traversed again at great length.
Agreements were reached regarding the terms of a Gen¬ eral Claims Convention and a Special Claims Convention, in the ev^ent the two governments should decide to estab¬ lish commissions to deal with such claims. These conven¬ tions were accepted and signed September 8 and Septem¬ ber 10, 1923, and provided that all claims of American citizens on account of injuries or wrongs due to the revolu¬ tion should be settled by the Special Claims Commission, and that all other claims of citizens of either country against the other should be settled by the General Claims Commission.
On August 2, 1923, the Mexican commissioners made their final statement which may be summarized as follows :
( 1 ) The Mexican commissioners agreed that Article 27 of the Constitution of 1917 is not retroactive in its effect for persons holding oil rights acquired under the Mexican
mining laws but that only jiersons who had performed some “positive act” before May 1, 1917, such as drilling, leasing, making contracts, etc., had actually acquired such rights. The Mexican commissioners maintained, as the Supreme Court had decided, in effect, in the Texas Oil Company amparo, that the mining laws had offered to the owners of the surface the right to exploit oil lying beneath their lands but that unless acceptance of this offer was evidenced by some “positive act” of exploration, the offer could be withdrawn and was withdrawn by the Constitu¬ tion of 1917. The positive acts listed in the memorandum as acceptable are numerous and varied and define a liberal policy in this regard.
In this connection the Mexican commissioners expressly agreed that the amparo cases above referred to would be treated as a precedent by tbe executive of the Republic, and that it should apply to “all those owners or lessees of land or subsoil or other persons entitled to the rights to the oil who are in a similar situation as those who obtained amparo.”
(2) The Mexican commissioners also stated: “The present executive . . . will continue in the future to grant, as in the past, to owners of the surface or persons entitled to exercise their preferential rights to the oil, who have not performed prior to the Constitution of 1917 any positive act such as mentioned above, or manifested an intention as above specified, a preferential right to the oil and permits to obtain the oil to the exclusion of any third party who has no title to the land or subsoil, in ac¬ cordance with the terms of the legislation now in force as modified by the decisions of January 17, 1920, and January 8, 1921, already mentioned. The above statement in this paragraph of the policy of the present executive is not intended to constitute an obligation for an unlimited time on (he part of the Mexican government to grant preferential rights to such owners of the surface or per¬ sons entitled to exercise their rights to the oil in the sub¬ soil.”
Thus the Mexican commissioners reserved to the Mexi¬ can^ government its rights regarding oil lands where no positive acts have been performed and also recognized the right of the American government to make reservations in behalf of its citizens in such cases, under the principles of international law and equity.
The net result of that conference seems to have been that each side stated its views and made certain reserva¬ tions, and recognized the right of each government to make reservations regarding their respective rights. While there was a considerable measure of accord the reserva¬ tions involved frankly contrary viewpoints and assump¬ tions. The result of the negotiations was stated by Presi¬ dent Coolidge on April 25, 1927, as follows; “These records were duly signed and attested by the commis¬ sioners and were submitted to the President of Mexico and the President of the United States for their mutual approval, which was given. It was solely because of our understanding secured in this formal way that our prop¬ erty rights would be respected, that recognition of the government of President Obregon was granted on Sep¬ tember 3, 1923.”
X. The Land Question
Although the oil controversy has attracted chief atten¬ tion, the results of the Mexican land policy have perhaps given more ground for complaint in that many alien farm-
[6]
Saturday, May 21, 1927.
ers living in Mexico appear to have been reduced to serious straits through the expropriation of their lands. At the same time the land program is one of the most important jdrases of the revolution, and requires sympathetic study.
The fact that many Indian villages had been deprived of their ancient communal lands during the Diaz regime — particularly through a decree issued on May 12, 1890, with the resulting concessions to foreign capitalists — and Madero’s proposal to rehabilitate the ejidos, were impor¬ tant factors in bringing support to the Madero revolution of 1910. The desire of Indian villages for communal lands has been of great political signihcance ever since. Madero vaguely promised restitution of lands but nothing delinite was done until Carranza issued his decree on Janu¬ ary 6, 1915, at Vera Cruz, in which he annulled the decrees ol the Diaz regime which he pronounced illegal, declared that Indian villages would be allowed to petition for the return of their lands, set up national and state agrarian commissions and devised a procedure for a large scale re¬ distribution of land. This procedure has been modified by regulations issued in 1920, 1921 and 1922.
Figures were furnished to the Research Department of the Federal Council of Churches by the Official Mayor of the National Agrarian Commission in January, 1927, indi¬ cating the extent of the land distribution. According to these figures, up to October, 1926, there had been finally conveyed a total of 2,886,531 hectares (2.4 acres to a hec¬ tare) of land to the heads of 317,112 families forming l,o09 Indian villages. A considerable number of the pro¬ visional adjustments made by the state agrarian commis¬ sions had not yet been reviewed by the National Com¬ mission. In addition, it was stated that in October, 1926, provisional restorations had been made of 2,525,849 hec¬ tares of land to 193,104 heads of families in 1,055 villages.
Theoretically, payment is made to the former owners (individuals and corporations, many of whom are citizens of the United States or of other foreign states) in the form of 20 year bonds bearing 5 per cent interest with the principal payable 5 per cent annually. The price is that for which the land was assessed for purposes of ta.x- ation, plus 10 per cent. Practically, however, since nearly all of the American owners whose lands have been in¬ volved in this distribution have been unwilling to accept bonds, the indemnification has gone by default. The owners have preferred to present claims to the General Claims Commission, sitting in Washington, which was set up pursuant to the Convention entered into by the two governments in 1923.*
The United States commissioners in 1923 contended that indemnification should be made in cash and not in bonds. It was agreed, however, by the American com¬ missioners that payment in bonds should be accepted for lands up to 1,755 hectares but that this was not to be a precedent and that if Mexico could negotiate a foreign loan she would use the proceeds for cash payments to those whose lands were being given to the Indians. This loan has not been negotiated.
Prior to the controversy over the petroleum laws, which has recently overshadowed everything else, the land dis¬ tribution program was the occasion for considerable dis¬ satisfaction on the part of foreign investors and for con¬ troversy between the governments of Mexico and the
* It is positively stated on behalf of American interests that no bonds have been issued for the purpose here indicated. Mexican authorities contend the contrary. The question, however, is of little significance because of the unwillingness of owners to accept bonds.
United States. Complaints made against the government of Mexico are as follows : that compensation ofifered (the assessed valuation plus 10 per cent) is too low; that there has been undue delay in administration ; that in some instances Indian villages have illegally taken possession of lands and that nothing has been done by government officials to give redress to the owers of the lands; that many estates have been divided under state laws, without compensation ; that valid concessions have been annulled ; that for many years interest has not been paid on state bonds ; that bonds are unacceptable for payment because they would depreciate in value and because a new revolu¬ tion might make them worthless.
From observations made in connection with the present study, it appears that there is substantial ground for some of these complaints. Evidence of similar import comes from many sources. It should also be stated, perhaps, that there are instances of Indian villages which are much dissatisfied with the restitution made, because of the bick¬ erings of local politicians.
However, the land distribution and the creation of small¬ holdings are declared by the Mexican government to be an economic and political necessity. What is desired is the establishment of a class of small farmers. The principle is not peculiar to Mexico. In other parts of the world, e.g., the Balkans and Ireland, ti'emendous land distribu¬ tions have been made by forcing the cutting up of large estates in the interest of the general welfare and the sta¬ bility of the state. In general, compensation is, at least theoretically, provided for in such undertakings.
XL The Alien Land Law of 1926
The alien land law, enacted January 21, 1926, effective January 1, 1927, first restates the provision of the Consti¬ tution that “no alien shall acquire direct ownership in lands and waters in a strip of one hundred kilometers along frontiers and of fifty on coasts nor be a shareholder in Mexican companies which may acquire such ownership in the same strip.”
Alien members of Mexican companies holding land or conducting mining or petroleum enterprises must agree to consider themselves as Mexican citizens regarding their property rights and undertake not to invoke the protection of their governments in regard to such property. The penalty for failure to observe this requirement is the forfeiture of all the rights in question. Mexican com¬ panies are not allowed to acquire property for agricultural purposes when through such acquisition there would re¬ main in the hands of aliens 50 per cent or more of the total interests of the company. Foreigners, however, “who may represent since prior to the going into effect of this law fifty per cent or more of the total interest of any kind of companies owning rural prop)erty for agricultural pur¬ poses shall retain it until their death in the case of physical persons, or for ten years in the case of moral persons (corporations).”
Other rights which are the object of the law, aside from those above referred to, acquired legally by aliens prior to the going into effect of the law shall be conserved by their present owners until their death.
Provision is made for aliens who may acquire rights by inheritance “the acquisition of which might be prohibited to aliens by the law,” and for aliens who have a “pre-
[7]
Saturday, May 21, 1927.
existing right acquired in good faith” ; but permits granted to such persons are granted on condition that the rights in question be transferred “to a person, with capacity under the law” within a period of five years counting from the death of the author of the inheritance, where the right is inherited, or from the date of adjudication of the right, where it is acquired by the individual himself.
To secure the rights here prescribed the aliens con¬ cerned were to register their claims by January 21, 1927. Special provisions are made regarding aliens admitted as colonists.
Regulations for the administration of this law were issued on March 29, 1926. In spite of the rather sharp limitations contained in the law. Article 18 of the regula¬ tions repeats the assurance that “none of the provisions of this law or of these regulations will have retroactive effect to the prejudice of anyone.”
XII. The Petroleum Question
In order to make clear the significance of the new oil law the history of legislation and policy with reference to subsoil wealth must be referred to. One of the chief ele¬ ments in the controversy turns on the interpretation of these laws. While the questions here at issue have long been the subject of controversy among legal authorities, certain generalizations seem warranted.
In the first place, it is admitted that between 1783 and 1884, there was no formal legislation regarding the status of mines in Mexico. The ordinances of 1783, issued by royal decree to govern mining in New Spain, placed all subsoil minerals including expressly the “juices of the earth,” within the royal patrimony, which, when Mexico attained independence in 1821, passed over to the state. The ordinances, like their Spanish prototypes, were chiefly concerned with metals ; coal was of little commercial sig¬ nificance, and petroleum was apparently unknown when the mining ordinances were formulated.
So long as coal and petroleum were not of great com¬ mercial value, the ordinances of 1783 were not definitely challenged. But in 1882, the Mexican Supreme Court rendered a decision permitting persons other than surface owners to “denounce” (lay claim to) coal lying under pri¬ vately owned lands. This decision, however, was short lived, since a constitutional amendment was regularly adopted in 1883 empowering the federal government to enact mining laws, with the evident purpose of overcoming the effect of the decision. This was during the presidency of Gonzales, who was under the influence of Poiifirio Diaz. Pursuant to this amendment a new law was promulgated in 1884, which was reaffirmed and supplemented by the laws of 1892 and 1909. The effect of these laws has already been explained.
It should be noted that ownership of mines is, in deriva¬ tion, separate from ownership of the surface. The latter is acquired under and governed by the laws of the states. Coal and petroleum are subject not to state but to national law, so that the owner of the surface did not acquire his right to coal or oil as real estate under a state law, but as a mineral under national law. Mexico is a federal re¬ public, like the United States, with corresponding distinc¬ tions in legislative function. The oil companies rest their claims upon the national mining laws.
The Mexican government justifies the nationalization of petroleum on the ground that the Diaz regime under
which exploitation of Mexico’s subsoil was so extensively developed was a distinct departure from the principle of subsoil ownership obtaining under Spanish law. This question has perhaps little more than historical impor¬ tance, but so much has been made of it that the following facts are set down as bearing upon the merits of the con¬ tention that the nationalization policy is in line with all legal precedents prior to 1884.
The principle embodied in the civil law, prior to specific legislation on the subject, was, in the words of an eminent commentator, that “alt veins and mineral deposits of gold or silver ore, or of precious stones, belonged, if in public ground, to the sovereign, and were part of his patrimony ; but if on private property, they belonged to the owner of the land, subject to the condition, that if worked by the owner, he was bound to render a tenth part of the produce to the prince, as a right attaching to his crown ; and that, if worked by any other person, by consent of the owner, the former was liable to the payment of two-tenths, one to the prince and one to the owner of the property.” Sub¬ sequently, the same authority records, “it became an established custom in most kingdoms, and was declared by the particular laws and statutes of each, that all veins of the precious metals, and the produce of such veins, should vest in the crown, and be held to be part of the patrimony of the king or sovereign prince. That this is the case with respect to the empire of Germany, the Electorates, France, Portugal, Aragon and Catalonia, ap¬ pears from the laws of each of those countries, and from the authority of various authors.”
Early Spanish legislation on the subject vested the prop¬ erty of mines in the king. A decree issued in 1387 recog¬ nized a certain measure of proprietorship in mines on the part of the owner of the surface, i.e., to the extent that the owners of the surface might prevent others from ex¬ ploring their lands for mines. A decree issued in 1559, specifically reincorporating in the royal patrimony mines of “gold, silver, quicksilver and other metals” which were not being operated, recognized that the early laws had not been strictly observed and offered compensation to the persons holding the properties being reclaimed by the crown.
In 1584, new mining ordinances were issued which fur¬ nished the basic mining legislation in Spain for two hun¬ dred years. They contain the following passage : “And in order to benefit and favor our subjects, and natives, and all other persons whatsoever, even though foreigners to these our kingdoms, who may work or discover any mines of silver, already discovered or to be discovered, we will and command, that they shall have them and that they shall be their property, in possession and ownership \pro- piedad], and that they may do with them as with any¬ thing their own, observing, as well in regard to what they have to pay by way of duty to us, as in all else, what is prescribed and ordered in this edict. . . .”
This liberal grant has the greater importance because subsequently these ordinances were made generally appli¬ cable to New Spain. Controversy arose there as to whether or not the grant above quoted effectually removed the mines from the royal patrimony, and the doubt con¬ cerning it was not resolved until the mining ordinances of the Indies expressly vested all subsoil properties in the crown.
Even this grant of 1584 did not confuse ownership of
[8]
Saturday, May 21, 1927,
the mines with ownership of the surface. In 1789, how¬ ever, a decree was issued which declared :
“Stone-coal, not being a metal or a semi-metal, or any of the things included in the laws and ordinances which declare mines the property {propi.as'\ of the royal patri¬ mony, shall be free for working, and for trade by sea and land, throughout the whole kingdom, and no impediment shall be placed in the way of its exportation by sea, for trade in foreign countries.
“Such mines should belong to the proprietors of the lands in which they are, by the word proprietor the direct owner being understood, and not the lessee . . . but
if the proprietor, the mine being once discovered, shall refuse to make use of his ownership, in any of the afore¬ said modes, in order to have it effectively worked, my council . . . shall hjve power to grant the right to
work it, to the discoverer, he giving to the proprietor the fifth part of its produce.”
This decree was modified in some measure but was in effect confirmed by supplementary decrees issued in 1790, 1792, and 1793. Clearly, what was conferred upon the land owner was not absolute ownership of the mines, but it is equally clear that a policy was temporarily adopted at this time by which a sharp distinction was made between coal and metals. This policy, however, was later aban¬ doned by Spain and the laws of 1828, 1849, and 1868 place coal in the same category as the metals.
All of which is important only as background of the present controversy. It does not alter the fact that the Mexican Constitution of 1917 restores all subsoil minerals to the status they occupied prior to 1884 and that the precedent for such action is deeply embedded in Spanish law. On the other hand it shows that this theory was developed with reference to metals, before bituminous products became important; that the new policy adopted in 1884 was the only policy the nation had ever had with reference to coal and petroleum from the time when they acquired commercial importance in Mexico until the new Constitution was adopted in 1917 ; and that for the laws of 1884, 1892 and 1909 certain early Spanish legislation fur¬ nished what might be called a near precedent. It can hardly be said that bituminous substances have the same status in Spanish legal tradition as metalliferous minerals.
XIII. The Petroleum Law of 1925
The petroleum law enacted in December, 1925, effective January 1, 1927, contained among other provisions the following;
(1) Ownership of petroleum and all hydro-carhons is vested in the nation and is inalienalde. W'orks of de¬ velopment can be carried out only under concessions granted by the government under specific laws.
(2) The petroleum industry is a “public utility” and takes precedence of use of the surface.
(3) A “concession” for (new) exploitation is limited to 30 years.
(4) All concessionnaires shall pay indemnities to the government; in case the concessionnaire is not the owner of the surface, he shall pay 5 per cent of the gross pro¬ duction to such owner.*
* It is worth noting that this 5 per cent, when paid to foreign oil com¬ panies as owners of land upon wliich they are prohibited by the Constitu¬ tion and by the petroleum law from securing concessions, while not the full equivalent of a royalty, constitutes an offset to the denial to them of petroleum rights.
(5) Concessions will be granted, free of cost, to indi¬ vidual surface owners who began development before May 1, 1917, and also to surface owners or their suc¬ cessors who made “contracts” for the express purpwse of exploiting petroleum before that date. Foreign corpora¬ tions, however, as the Constitution requires, are excluded from the privilege of securing concessions. Also, the positive acts of initial exploitation listed as acceptable are less inclusive than the list agreed to in 1923.
(6) All such surface owners and all who are develop¬ ing oil resources under concessions granted by the execu¬ tive of the nation under previous laws shall apply for con¬ cessions by December 3l, 1926. Failure to apply for such concessions will be regarded as renunciation of all claims and rights.
(7) “Confirmation of these rights” shall be for 50 years, dating from the time exploitation began, or in the case of a contract, from the date when it was signed. The regulations issued pursuant to the law state that the period may be “extended as ordered by the federal law,” but this is contrary to the terms of the law itself.
XIV. Legality of Titles
Much is said concerning the illegality of titles to land and oil properties held or claimed by foreigners in Mexico. It is safe to say that in a country where land was held by families and communities, where revolutions have been frequent, where corruption in government has been a major national problem, and where the courts have too generally been subservient to the executive power, many titles are less than flawless, some, perhaps thoroughly bad. It is no part of the purpose of this report to discuss the validity of titles for the reason that if every title in ques¬ tion were unexceptionable, that fact would not affect the essential elements of this controversy.
Moreover, there is no sufficient ground for assuming that insecurity of titles is an important factor in the attitude of the oil companies who represent the major interests in the controversy. The reason for this state¬ ment will appear in the following section.
XV. The Accord Reached in 1924
In the fall of 1924 a committee representing the Ameri¬ can oil interests had held extended conferences in Mexico City with representatives of the Mexican government with a view to arriving at a modus vivendi with reference to the development of the American oil properties in Mexico and encouragement by the government of the oil industry. At the end of the conferences, on October 14, 1924, a memorandum was agreed to by the oil companies’ repre¬ sentatives and by the representatives of the Mexican gov¬ ernment who were designated by President Obregon. It was later approved by President Calles. The memo¬ randum provided that any owner or lessee of surface property under which petroleum is to be explored or ex¬ ploited should file with the Department of Industry, Com¬ merce and Labor an application with certified copies of his titles. If these documents should be found to be in conformity with the law the department would order pub¬ lication of the application in order that within a period of 90 days any person who considered he had a better
[9]
Saturday, May SI, 19S7.
right might file adverse claims. If no adverse claim should be put forward the “faculty” of exploring and exploiting subsoil of the lands in question would be be¬ stowed upon the claimant upon condition of establishing regular works and conforming to the laws and police regulations. Provision was outlined for conciliating or arbitrating conflicting claims through the Department of Industry, Commerce and Labor, and ultimately, if neces¬ sary, taking the matter to the courts.
It will be observed that this memorandum represented an effort to arrive at a modus vivendi without compro¬ mising either the Mexican government with respect to the Constitution of 1917, or the American State Department with respect to the rights of American investors in Mexico.
It was also agreed that the federal government should study the legal means by which the oil industry could be assured that it would not be prejudiced by reasons of expropriation over those portions of the surface neces¬ sary to its operations. It was further agreed that the federal executive would endeavor “by the legal means at his disposition to bring about that the organic law of Article 27 of the Constitution in the portion relating to oil exploration shall sanction the situation of fact created as a consequence of the foregoing provisions.”
When the petroleum law of 1925 was being drafted, the committee which had represented the oil interests wrote to President Calles and called his attention to what the committee considered a serious departure from the under¬ standing which had been reached a year previously. On October 29, 1925, President Calles replied stating that the executive power under his charge had endeavored to adjust its action to the terms of the memorandum agreed upon “without departing in the least from their principal features.” He added, however, that “only the legislative body is empowered to make laws in the country and consequently the executive can make known his opinion, if that is asked, but respecting always the legislative inde¬ pendence in order that it may duly fulfill the high mission that it has entrusted to it.”
XVI. Official Correspondence on New Laws
When the preliminary drafts of the petroleum and land laws described above were reported to the Department of State in the fall of 1925, the Department at once took the position that they did not embody the assurances which our government believed had b^n given by the Mexican commissioners in 1923. A fresh exchange of notes, nine in all, took place between November, 1925, and March, 1926, and a second group of four notes between July 31 and November 17, 1926.
It will suffice to summarize this second series of four notes, which were released on November 24, 1926. They are phrased in the highly technical terms of law and diplomacy and are not easy reading for a layman. Here we seek to give merely the briefest and simplest possible non-technical summary of the principal points raised and the positions taken.
Secretary Kellogg presents first of all four fundamental principles on which he understands the two governments are agreed. They read as follows :
“First. Lawfully vested rights of property of every description are to be respected and preserved in con¬
formity with the recognized principles of international law and of equity.
“Second. The general understanding reached by the commissioners of the two countries in 1923, and ap¬ proved by both governments at the time of resumption of diplomatic relations between them stands unmodified and its binding force is recognized.
“Third. The principle of international law that it is both the right and duty of a government to protect its citizens against any invasion of their rights of person or property by a foreign government, and that this right may not be contracted away by the individual, is con¬ ceded.
“Fourth. The principle that vested rights may not be impaired by legislation retroactive in character or con¬ fiscatory in effect is not disputed.”
Mr. Kellogg then states that “the differences between us arise wholly from the practical interpretation and spe¬ cific application of these general conceptions to the exist¬ ing situation.” He contends that the Mexican attitude and intentions “are calculated to defeat the legitimate expectations” based on these principles.
Mr. Kellogg contends that the Mexican government is really proposing to convert unqualified ownership into use for a term of years, which is virtually confiscation. The Mexican doctrine of “positive acts” as required to change an “optional” into an “actual” right he rejects. He rejects also the principle enunciated in the Calvo clause, maintaining that the American government can never recognize the right of a national to renounce the protection of his government with respect to his rights. He also restates the American position that the under¬ standings arrived at in 1923 preceding recognition con¬ stituted a binding agreement.
In his reply to this note and in subsequent communica¬ tions Minister Saenz restated Mexican contentions which were already familiar, controverting the major positions set forth above. A tone of sharpness was given to the discussion by his resentment of diplomatic interference with reference to proposed Mexican legislation.
Mr. Saenz also recurs to the distinction between “actual” and “acquired” rights which has assumed much importance in the whole controversy. An illustration will make this position plain. If an American citizen ac¬ quired, prior to May 1, 1917, a fee title to property for the purpose of exploiting petroleum and if a positive act had been performed or a contract entered into for the exploitation of petroleum prior to that date, his right is recognized. However, this right extends only to the “confirmation” of a concession not to exceed 50 years in its total duration. If, moreover, the property had been acquired for purposes of domicile or other use not involv¬ ing the exploitation of subsoil properties, or if acquired, though not in express terms, to provide a reserve supply of petroleum, the individual is not considered to have acquired any right whatever to such subsoil properties. Thus according to the Mexican position the nationaliza¬ tion of petroleum properties represents a pronounced change in national policy but the Mexican government does not admit that any real rights are impaired thereby.
The correspondence closes with the declaration on the part of the American State Department that this govern¬ ment “expects the government of Mexico ... to respect in their entirety the acquired property rights
[ 10 ]
Saturday, May 21, 1927.
of American citizens, . . and an answering state¬
ment on the part of the Mexican government that it ex¬ pects the United States to “indicate concrete cases” in which rights have actually been violated.
XVII. The Attitude of the Oil Companies
The question to what extent the oil companies have complied with the provisions of the oil law has been greatly confused by the fact that the mere listing of those companies who have applied for confirmatory conces¬ sions gives no idea of the extent of the oil operations involved and by the further fact that some companies applied for concessions and afterward asked the privi¬ lege of withdrawing their applications. Statistics believed to be reliable show that the companies that are at this time resisting the Mexican government’s oil policy repre¬ sent about 75 per cent of the oil production in Mexico, which in 1926 totaled 90,000,000 barrels. The principal British and Dutch companies are included in this num¬ ber.
The protesting companies contend :
1. That applications for confirmatory concessions would mean definite and final acceptance on their part of the government’s policy, which they consider confiscatory.
2. That the text of the Constitution and of the petro¬ leum law makes it clear that no concession whatever may be given to a foreign corporation and that therefore the concessions which the Mexican government proposes to give, under the terms of the regulations of the Alien Land Law, to foreign corporations who register their holdings and file applications for concessions have no standing in law. The oil companies contend that what the govern¬ ment proposes is altogether extra-legal — an administra¬ tive device without warrant in either the land law or the petroleum law — and gives the foreigner no assurance of justice in the future.
3. That the fifty-year concession provided for in the law which would run, not from the present year, but from the time when the first positive act looking toward exploitation took place — in some instances many years ago — would in some cases be quite insufficient for the removal of the oil. (The government has, it appears, volunteered a thirty-year extension, but this, as already pointed out, runs counter to the limitation expressed in the law.)
XVIII. Decision Regarding the Calvo Clause
The General Claims Commission on March 31, 1926, rendered a decision in the case of the North American Dredging Company of Texas which is of interest because of its statements bearing on the Calvo clause. The de¬ cision, however, has no force as a binding precedent and is not in full accord with the decisions of other interna¬ tional commissions which have considered the Calvo clause in the past. Furthermore, the present decision contains what appear to be inconsistent and even contra¬ dictory passages.
The Calvo principle came befjire the Commission by virtue of the fact that the contract in question, which was negotiated in 1912, long before the adoption of the new Constitution, included a clause precluding “the interven¬
tion of foreign diplomatic agents ... in any matter related to this contract.” The Mexican government was a party to the contract. It is important to note that the decision contains the statement that whenever such a clause as the one in dispute “is so phrased as to seek to preclude a government from intervening, diplomatically or otherwise, to protect its citizens whose rights of any nature have been invaded by another government in viola¬ tion of the rules and principles of international law, the Commission will have no hesitation in pronouncing the provision void.”
It is not easy, however, to reconcile this statement with the actual decision of the case, which refused to hold “void” the Calvo clause just quoted despite its apparently sweeping phraseology. But the principle enunciated by the Commission, quoted above, is the generally accepted view in so far as the state itself is concerned. The theory underlying it is that a wrong done by a foreign govern¬ ment to the citizen of a sovereign state is an injury in¬ flicted upon the state itself in the person of its citizen, and the injured government will not therefore relinquish its right to proceed on its own initiative, if it elects to do so, for the protection of its nationals, nor can it be de¬ prived of that right by its citizen.
Obviously the relinquishment on the part of the citizen himself of the right to invoke the protection of his gov¬ ernment is not of a piece with the curtailment of the right of that government to proceed on its own motion. It should be noted that the question of the effect of such a contract has both a private and an international aspect. On the private side, the citizen is merely making a con¬ tract ; the other contracting party has a right to grant that contract on such terms as it sees fit. If the individual contractor violates his contract he may thereby give the other contracting party a right to rescind it. But the international aspect remains. If the individual contractor has violated his contract by an appeal to his government, that appeal was probably induced by some act of the con¬ tracting state which he considered wrongful under inter¬ national law. If this is true, the individual contractor’s government may claim damages for such wrongful act. The Mexican version of the Calvo clause in some cases explicitly declares that an appeal for diplomatic protection automatically cancels the contract. But this can not affect the right of the government to take action on its own account.
A somewhat similar question has arisen with reference to the protection of missionaries in foreign countries who have preferred to take full responsibility for the risks incurred in carrying on their missionary service, rather than to jeopardize the relations of their own government with the government under whose jurisdiction they reside. The government of the United States has taken the posi¬ tion that the right to protect its citizens is reserved by the government quite regardless of what their wish may be in the matter.
While it has no direct bearing upon the merits of this controversy the following passage from the decision above referred to illustrates so well the need felt by a weak gov¬ ernment to protect itself from excessive diplomatic inter¬ ference on the part of a stronger government as to war¬ rant quoting it here. The Commission said: “If it were necessary to demonstrate how legitimate are the fears of certain nations with respect to abuses of the right of pro-
[nl
Saturday, May ^1, 1927.
techon and how seriously the sovereignty of those nations within their own boundaries would be impaired if some extreme conceptions of this right were recognized and enforced, the present case would furnish an illuminating example. The claimant, after having solemnly promised m writing that it would not ignore the local laws, reme¬ dies, and authorities, behaved from the very beginniiwr as contract had no existence in fact It used the article to procure the contract, but this was the extent of its use. ... It has gone so far as to declare itselt freed from its contract obligations by its ipse divit nistead of having resorted to the local tribunals to construe Its contract and its rights thereunder. And it has gone so far as to declare that it was not bound by article 7 of the contract and to forcibly remove a dredge to which, under that article, the government of Mexico considered itself entitled as security for the proper fulfillment of its con¬ tract with claimant. While its behavior during the spring and summer of 1914, the latter part of the Huerta adminis¬ tration may be in part explained by the unhappy condi¬ tions of friction then existing between the two countries m connection with the military occupation of Vera Cruz by the United States, this explanation cannot be extended from the year 1917 to the date of the filing of its claim before this Commission, during all of which time it has Ignored the open doors of Mexican tribunals. The record before this Commission strongly suggests that the claimant used article 18 to procure the contract with no intention of ever observing its provisions.”
Obviously such conduct as is here described would be not only a breach of the contract entered into by the com¬ pany, but a sharp departure from the established procedure under international law. This procedure requires that the plaintiff shall exhaust the legal resources of the government against which his complaint is lodged before making any appeal to his own government for diplomatic protection. An exception to this rule would arise when the denial of justice is considered to be so patent as to warrant diplo¬ matic action without waiting for the results of judicial processes.
In the case before the Claims Commission the United States relied on article V of the Claims Convention, by which Mexico and the United States agreed to waive the usual requirement of exhaustion of local remedies. The Commission avoided this point by the interpretation which it gave to the treaty.
XIX. International Law and the Question OF Arbitration
The question at issue in the oil dispute is one of prop¬ erty rights. The government of the IJnited States claims that under the Constitution of 1917 and the law of 1925 property rights are being taken from the oil companies without compensation— that Article 27 of the Constitution, and the law of 1925 are confiscatory. This point involves rights under Mexican law and under international law. Since the property is in Mexico, the final arbiter, within that nation, must be the Mexican court applying Mexican law just as in the United States property rights must finally be fixed by the American court applying American law. The oil companies secured, as already related, from the Supreme Court of Mexico decisions which established their rights under the laws of 1884, 1892, and 1909, in all cases where positive acts had been performed prior to
May 1, 1917, and determined that Article 27 of the Con¬ stitution did not take away from them any such right acquired prior to the time when the Constitution went into effect. Decisions have also been obtained from the lower Mexican couits, some favorable and some adverse to the oil companies claims with respect to their rights under the law of 1925, and appeals are now in the Mexican Supreme Court.
The oil companies believe that the law of 1925 is con¬ fiscatory, no matter what may be the decision of the Mexi¬ can Supreme Court. They, therefore, believe that the American government should persist in its protest against the application of the law. But international law is the same for all nations, and if a Mexican law may be treated as invalid under a rule of international law and inapplicable to American-owned property, an act of Congress or of a state legislature may also be called into question if a for¬ eign government believes it to be contrary to a precept of international law. Such an instance has recently arisen. The State Department had before it a protest by the Italian government against the strict application of the Eighteenth Amendment and the Volstead Act as inter¬ preted by the Supreme Court of the United States to Italian ships in American coastal waters. The State De¬ partment said:
“The Royal Italian Embassy will understand that the United States government cannot well discuss the legality, in an international sense, of the operation of an Act of Congress the scope of which, within the territorial limits of the United States, has been authoritatively determined by the Supreme Court of the United States. While, there¬ fore, the Department of State is not indisposed to give consideration in a friendly spirit to views such as those expressed in the memorandum of the Royal Italian Em¬ bassy with respect to the operation of the Act upon vessels of foreign governments, the Department could not accept any suggestion questioning the competency of the Congress to enact such legislation.
“As the question is one of the exercise of legislative discretion, it is assumed that the operation of the National Prohibition Act will receive the attention of the Congress when it next convenes, and that all pertinent matters will have the most careful consideration.”
There remains the recourse to arbitration under inter¬ national law. When the discussion became highly acute in January, 1927, the question was asked of President Calles by an American group then in Mexico if he would be willing to have the oil dispute settled by arbitration. He answered as follows :
“If necessary, Mexico would follow such a course. However, from the point of view of the sovereignty of nations this would include a peril, in the precedent that would be established. If a country exercising its sov¬ ereignty passes laws, laws which the nation believes are necessary for the well-being of the people, it is very dan¬ gerous for it to submit these laws to the wishes of other people. And it is also very dangerous for it to submit these questions to tribunals of arbitration because, from very painful experience, we know — and history shows it in all clarity — that in all these international courts it is always the point of view of the strong that dominates. But if it is necessary to make a sacrifice to prevent much more serious difficulties for the country, we would be will¬ ing to do this, taking our chances with the danger. Of two evils, it is always better to choose the less.”
[ 12 ]
Saturday, May 21, 1927.
Within a short time Washington was flooded with let¬ ters demanding arbitration. Secretary Kellogg himself publicly declared that he had been considering its practica¬ bility and thought it essentially desirable. It was later stated on behalf of President Calks that Mexico could not suffer her right to supremacy in her internal affairs to be questioned. On January 25, 1927, the Robinson Resolu¬ tion favoring the settlement of the dispute by arbitration passed the Senate unanimously (79 to 0). That resolution read as follows :
“Resolved, That while by virtue of sovereignty the duty devolves upon this government to protect the lives and property of its nationals in foreign countries, which duty is not to be neglected or disregarded, it is nevertheless sound policy, consistent with the honor and best interest of the United States and promotive of international peace and goodwill, to submit to an arbitral tribunal, which shall apply the principles of international law, the controversies with Mexico relating to the alleged confiscation or impair¬ ment of the property of American citizens and corpora¬ tions in Mexico ; the arbitration agreement to provide for protection of all American property rights pending the final outcome of the arbitration.
“That in goodwill and friendliness efforts should be made and persisted in to effect arrangements which will commit the two governments to the policy of abiding by and executing awards that may be made in consequence of such arrangements to arbitrate.”
In his address in New York on April 25 of this year President Coolidge referred to this resolution and made the following comment upon it:
“We have at present two commissions of arbitration with Mexico, and the principle of arbitration has always been strongly advocated by our government. Everybody favors arbitration when the question at issue is arbitrable. Under the present circumstances I can see grave difficul¬ ties in formulating a question which the two governments would agree to submit to such a tribunal. The principle that property is not to be confiscated and the duty of our government to protect it are so well established that it is doubtful if they should be permitted to be questioned. Very likely Mexico would feel that the right to make a Constitution and pass laws is a privilege of her sovereignty which she could not permit to be brought into question. It has therefore seemed that we are more likely to secure an adjustment through negotiation.”
The press a day or two later reported that President Calks had expressed approval of this statement by Presi¬ dent Coolidge.
Under international law an individual cannot bring action against a government which he thinks has wronged him. Such action can only be brought by his own govern¬ ment, which must be convinced that the wrong is of a nature which, under international law, it may consider a wrong done to itself through its citizen. The wrong must be clear and of a very serious nature. The right of the government which feels itself so injured is to ask for indemnification for the injury. There is no procedure in international law by which the national law itself may be declared void and its apidication to the proi^erty of a foreigner l)e refused, or by which the judgment of the national Supreme Court may be reversed. It is the dam¬ age done by the application of the law or of the judgment for which redress may be asked.
While there is no organ of international law which can control the legislature, executive and judiciary of an inde¬ pendent state and declare their acts invalid, the operation of such acts may give rise to a claim for damages. The oil companies contend that in their case damages will not constitute adequate redress. They maintain that they want the property, not an award of damages which an interna¬ tional arbitration tribunal may grant but actual payment of which would be problematic. They say that if the question were one between two private corporations they would not seek damages for the taking of the property, but an injunction to prevent its taking so that an injury would not be done. As yet, international law provides no such instrument of protection. If the international society were organized as a nation is organized, the solution would, be found in bringing an action in a court of equity to pre¬ vent the taking of the property. It is contended on behalf of the oil companies and the expropriated land owners that the very fact that international law furnishes no precedent for dealing with this unusual situation justifies all the more energetic action by diplomatic means. In this connection Article 17 of the Treaty of Conciliation and Judicial Settlement between Italy and Switzerland of Sep¬ tember 20, 1924, is significant.
The clause occurs in similar treaties, and seems to point toward a solution of the problem here under consideration. The Article declares that:
“Should the Permanent Court of International Justice find a decision of a court of law or other authority of one of the contracting states is wholly or partly at variance with international law, and should the constitutional law of that state not allow, or only inadequately allow, the cancellation of this decision by administrative procedure, the party prejudiced shall be granted equitable satisfac¬ tion in some other form.”
Such is the impasse in the relations of the two govern¬ ments. The oil companies are emphatic in declaring that they do not want war. War would involve grave hazard to their properties. They hope that once more the Mex¬ ican Supreme Court will give them protection against the executive. Failing that, they rest their case entirely upon diplomatic action. This might at any moment mean sus¬ pension of diplomatic relations, a lifting of the arms em¬ bargo, or even more serious consequences. The most probable result of such action would be, of course, revolu¬ tion, which, if successful, it is freely predicted, would result in a complete reversal of Mexican policy.
The most serious intimations of forcible intervention that have thus far been given were contained in the protest of Secretary of State Lansing against the Carranza decree of February, 1918, in which it was stated that “it becomes the function of the government of the United States most earnestly and respectfully to call the attention of the Mexican government to the necessity which may arise to impel it to protect the property of its citizens in Mexico divested or injuriously affected by the decree above cited.”
XX. Some Psychological Factors
Before setting down general conclusions of this report it seems proper to take note of certain factors which, while not directly bearing upon the controversy, inevitably affect the attitude of Mexico and of the Mexican people toward the United States. There is a century of history which
[13]
Saturday, May SI, 19S7.
furnishes the psychological background of Mexico’s atti¬ tude and policy toward this country.
Among the events making up this record may be enumerated the revolt of Texas, its recognition by Con¬ gress as an independent state and its annexation in 1845 to the United States; the Mexican War (1846-1848), during which the capital of Mexico was captured and at the end of which, by the terms of a dictated peace, a large area including California was ceded to the United States ; occupation of Vera Cruz by American marines in 1914; mobilization in 1916 of 104,000 American troops on the Mexican frontier ; the punitive expedition under General Pershing against Villa.
This series of events created a background against whicl Mexicans view what they regard as an aggressive policy on the part of the United States government. In par¬ ticular, they fear increasing economic penetration of Mexico by American interests. These considerations make the present situation vastly more difficult. There is a widespread feeling in this country as well as abroad that for permanent peace and harmony between the two nations the United States must be prepared to convince Mexico that her northern neighbor has no unfriendly designs upon her and that the policy of the United States is dictated by considerations of justice without any ulterior purpose.
General Conclusions
Referring to the four principal items in the controversy, we may set down the following conclusions:
(1) The question of retroactivity and confiscation.
It is admitted by the Mexican government that the way in which the provisions of the new Constitution for the rehabilitation of the communal lands have been applied has given rise to claims on the part of American owners for damages or restitution. The contention of the Mexican government in this connection is that the net result of the land policy has been greatly beneficial from a social point of view and that the evils incident to its adoption are being mitigated and remedied as rapidly as possible.
As to the question whether the new petroleum law is retroactive and confiscatory, it must be said that rights which the Mexican Supreme Court upheld in former de¬ cisions which the Mexican government in 1923 agreed to observe in future, have been definitely impaired in the new petroleum law, if the Mexican Supreme Court should sus¬ tain the law as it stands. Further, if the mining laws under which most of the rights in question were secured meant what they were generally understood to mean and what they were interpreted by the oil companies, by the United States government, and by the governments of Great Britain and France to mean, other property rights have been, by the terms of the law and of the Con¬ stitution as well, destroyed altogether.
However, final judgment on this point must be sus¬ pended until the amparo cases now before the Mexican Supreme Court are decided. The precedent set by earlier decisions would indicate that the Court is likely once more to uphold the rights of the oil companies as against the government.
There would still remain, of course, serious grievances on the part of landholders, many of them people of mod¬ erate means who have suffered under the operation of the new land system. These grievances the Mexican govern¬ ment has officially recognized and promised to remove.
(2) The question of renunciation of the right to diplo¬ matic protection.
Although the Calvo principle has been resorted to through many decades by Latin-American nations for the purpose of protecting the nations against excessive diplo¬ matic pressure in the interest of the nationals of powerful governments, its general application, with the forfeiture clause contained in the Mexican Constitution, is novel. The Calvo doctrine marks an area of conflict in the field
of international law which will doubtless be a battleground for a long time to come. For the present, at least, it may be said that, however the' principle may be stated, it will not be interpreted as depriving a government of the right to interpose diplomatic influence in cases where it believes that its citizens have suffered a denial of justice at the hands of a foreign government.
(3) The question of conditional or unconditional recog¬ nition.
This clement in the controversy seems to be largely of psychological significance. From a practical point of view it is clear that recognition of the Obregon government was given by the American government only after the com¬ missioners of the two governments in 1923 had develofied assurances which the State Department regarded as neces¬ sary. Had not the State Department believed that the rights of American citizens would be safeguarded to the extent of the undertakings given by the Mexican govern¬ ment in 1923, recognition would presumably not have followed.
But one cannot read the correspondence without being impressed by the great importance from the Mexican point of view of maintaining the principle of national sov¬ ereignty and the dignity of the Mexican government. It is therefore in point to note that recognition in the diplo¬ matic sense is regarded as an absolute proceeding. Rela¬ tions between two countries may be broken off but the granting of recognition is not understood to be conditional.
Yet this is only a partial statement of the case. It is to be remembered also that the American government tried for a long time through a laborious correspondence to secure a treaty of amity and commerce with Mexico look¬ ing toward the resumption of full diplomatic relations, and failing in that purpose substituted the method of informal conference for what it regarded as the more satisfactory method of a permanent treaty. While the Mexican con¬ tention is technically correct, only an excessively legalistic interpretation of the memorandum adopted by the com¬ missioners of the two governments in 1923 and approved by President Coolidge and President Obregon could gloss over the fact that the petroleum law of 1925 departs defi¬ nitely from the principles laid down in that memorandum (1) in requiring concessions for the exercise of rights admittedly acquired prior to May 1, 1917, while at the same time American corporations are barred from securing concessions; (2) in making no provision for “preferen¬ tial” rights to the owners of land where, according to the Supreme Court’s interpretatipn, no technical right to the
[14]
Saturday, May 21, 1927.
subsoil had been acquired. Admittedly, the Mexican policy with respect to the matter in controversy has been continuous from Carranza to Calles. With due regard to the fact that the agreement reached by the commissioners in 1923 was not a formal treaty, that agreement had an obvious moral quality. That it could not legally bind the Mexican Congress or the Mexican courts should go with¬ out saying but it is difficult to see how, in the light of it, the executive could escape responsibility for exercising the full strength of his influence to shape legislation in a man¬ ner that would conserve agreements previously entered into. We are driven to the conclusion that the Mexican government has given itself extraordinarily wide latitude with reference to the principles and precedents which it engaged to follow.
(4) The question of remedies under international law.
The practical question, however, is not as to the merits of the policy of the Mexican government, but as to tbe alternatives open to the American government and to American interests involved. In the absence of any ade¬ quate machinery of international society to guarantee equity as between national governments, each nation claims a sovereign right to legislate as it will with reference to its domestic affairs. There is no agreement in America as to whether some of the legislative acts of our own states are confiscatory or a legitimate exercise of police ])ower. Nor is there any agreement as to how far radical legislative measures may be justified when undertaken in response to urgent national need.
Each nation, the United States included, demands the right to be the judge of its own domestic laws, always subject to the limitation that if the operation of these laws results in violation of rights under international law the victim of any resulting injustice may demand, through his government, redress in forms prescribed by international law. There is, however, no international power to invali¬ date the domestic legislation in question. The government of the United States may, by diplomatic means, endeavor to persuade the Mexican government to change its legisla¬
tion to meet the American view as to what rights its na¬ tionals should possess, but such a course of action would be based on considerations of policy, not of law.
The right of a government to use the processes of diplomacy in protecting the property of its nationals from unwarranted injury is generally recognized. As to the method by which that right should be exercised, a serious question confronts the American people. Even granting that the proposal to arbitrate the dispute as an alternative to hostilities ought ultimately to be accepted — and it has been assumed in this report that the moral obligation to find an alternative to hostilities is not open to question — the fact remains that the policy of the Mexican govern¬ ment has inevitably become the subject of representations on the part of the State Department. The immediate question before the American government is how far such diplomatic measures may properly go. This problem must be studied not only in the light of American interests but also against the background of the humanitarian aims of the Mexican revolution and the struggle of the Mexican people to realize them.
In its sovereign capacity the United States might sus¬ pend diplomatic relations, might lift the arms embargo declared by President Coolidge on January 7, 1924, or might actually declare war. There is no international power to restrain her. But any action amounting to forci¬ ble intervention in the internal affairs of another nation, in such a case as the present, whether it involves military measures or other means of coercion, cannot derive its sanction from international law. Such action must rest entirely upon considerations of policy and the power of the nation to enforce its demands. When diplomatic pressure reaches the point where it amounts to intervention in the internal affairs of another nation the issue becomes moral rather than legal.
In the issue thus presented to the American people the churches of America have a vital stake, not simply because of their missionary interests, but because of their concern for international justice, cooperation and goodwill.
Printed in U. S. A,
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Several of the denominations have already acted in apiX)inting representatives on these two commissions. Unfortunately, some of tlie denominational missionaries years ago taught their denominational tenets so thoroughly that at present these teachings still create diffi¬ culty in the way of unity among the Mexican Protestants.
It is particularly unfortunate that denominationalism should have flared up in this year of crisis and made a strong attack on the Union Publishing House and Paper. If these enterprises are to grow, they need much more careful attention than they have been recently receiv¬ ing from the Boards.
The National Sunday School Association of Mexico has asked the help of the Christian forces in the United States in securing a Sunday school secretary for the republic. They offer to raise one-fourth of the budget. So far, due to severe cuts in mission board receipts, this request has not been granted. It is earnestly hoped that a way may he found this coming year to thus assist the 750 Sunday schools in Mexico.
There should he provided the full support of Prof. Andres Osuna, as the Secretary of the Committee on Cooperation in Mexico, whose whole time practically is needed to represent the boards and churches in their relations to governmental and legal matters. A third coopera¬ tive worker is needed as manager of the Union Press, which has suffered greatly for the lack of time of an expert to give detailed attention to this important enterprise.
This is a most important time for the Kingdom of God in Mexico. I’he Evangelical Church never faced larger opportunities. Neither did it ever face more delicate questions. These are not only related to the Government, but particularly to its own inner life. In 1914, at a conference at Cincinnati, the American Mission Boards agreed upon a large cooperative program. From the standjxiint of the Boards, this has been practically carried out. But some of the leaders in the denominational Mexican churches did not altogether accept that pro¬ gram. Now that the Mexican churches rightly have the leadership in their hands, both foreign and national elements must face new situations and work out an advance, not a retrogression, in cooperation and unity, along the new lines. The reorganization of the Com¬ mittee on Cooperation in Mexico and the refacing of the whole cooperative program demands much study and prayer by all interested in using the present religious crisis in Mexico for a great advance in the Kingdom.
WONDERFUL OPEN DOORS IN ME.XICO
The following from Mexico, the organ of the Methodist Epis¬ copal Church of Mexico, illustrates the reports from many sources of the opportunities for the Christian message:
“To be living in Mexico City these days is like walking the streets of Caesarea in the time of Paul. Such is the hunger and thirst after
17
('rod that eight hundred Bilrles were sold here in four days ! We find Christ in the Mexican Senate. This following message concerning Jesus was recently delivered like a bolt out of the blue in the Chamber of Deputies by Congressman Diaz Soto y Gama, who said :
“I shall close my discourse and I wish to open it by honoring that holy Name which the Church has forgotten — namely, Jesus the Christ. (Applause.) And in naming His Name I am certain that I have the sympathy and hearty endorsement of each member of this august body. . . . The thinking men of this Assembly and the thinking
men of Mexico believe in and love the Christ ! . . . We know
of nothing more beautiful, more revolutionary, more moving, more holy, or more progressive than the Gospel of Christ. . . . We who constitute the revolutionary party would rise above our past failures — for along with the great things we have done we have sinned — and there is but one Person who can save us, namely, Jesus our Lord 1 . . . Gentlemen, I do not agree with Mr. Trevino that the future of Mexico and the future of humanity depends upon the solu¬ tion of the economic problem. The problem of Mexico, as of the world, is the problem of raising our moral standards. . . . Yet
morality alone is not sufficient. Christ and only Christ is the solution to this problem ! . . .
“Here then I take my stand as a sincere Christian. And if some shall say: ‘My skeptic friend, why have you turned Christian so suddenly ?’ I can only answer — the sorrow and suflfering of my people have brought me back to the feet of my Saviour !”
WEST INDIES
PORTO RICO
The Committee reports notable progress in Porto Rico along two lines. A two-story building for the publishing house and bookstore conducted by the Evangelical Union was completed and occupied during the year. This is advantageously located on the principal busi¬ ness street of Ponce. It is a self-supporting enterprise. Beginning from July 1st “Puerto Rico Evangelico,’’ the paper representing .'even denominations, has become a weekly and secured an editor for full-time service. At the request of the editorial committee the Baptist Mission released one of its pastors, who now become,' the repre.'entative of all the evangelicals, supported from a common fund.
The second cooperative enterprise that gives encouraging results is the Evangelical Seminary, supported by the same denominations. It offers its stiulents a standard three-year course, leading to the degree of Bachelor of Theology, its credits being accepted at full value by the principal seminaries of the United States. Of the
18
More than 3.000.000 people will read this issue of our paper- thousands pass it on after reading it.
A NATION,
V olume XIX
It you are receiving this paper regularly, it is being paid tor by soina> body.
fKlCE IN
HUNTINGTON, INDIANA, MARCH 8, 1981
Number 48
THE SOULS in PURGATORY
By
Joseph Husslein, S.J.
|
CONTENTS: |
|||
|
I. |
A REASONABLE DOCTRINE |
||
|
II. |
THE PROOF FOR PURGATORY |
||
|
III. |
WHY AID THE POOR SOULS? |
||
|
IV. |
HOW BEST TO HELP THEM |
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New York
THE PAULIST PRESS •101 West 59th Street
inibil ©bs’tat;
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'ilnUHTmatur:
■i- I’ATRicK Cardinal Hayes,
Archbishop, Xcw 1 ork.
Seiv York, August 8, 102S.
Reprinted by permission of The Catholic Truth Society, London, England.
ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL PITTSBURGH, PA.
ELEYEWTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST AUGUST 24, 1930.
HIGH IIASSES OF REQUIEM
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H.M.R. |
Charles J. Niess |
T'xosday |
6-30 |
|
H.M.R. |
James J. Flannery, Son and DaugViters |
II |
7-00 |
|
A.H.M.R. |
Mrs. Mary Collins Hasson |
II |
7-30 |
|
H.M.R. |
John Lee |
II |
8-00 |
|
H.M.R. |
Dr. Edward A. Neiss |
II |
8-30 |
|
H.M.R. |
Mr. & Mrs. Michael J, Feeney |
II |
9-00 |
|
A.H.M.R. |
Michael G. Condon |
Wednesday |
6-30 |
|
A.H.M.R. |
Thomas and Joseph Feeney |
M |
7-00 |
|
A.H.M.R. |
Clara McBride |
II |
7-30 |
|
A.H.M.R. |
William Roger Dowling |
M |
8-00 |
|
A.H.M.R. |
Thomas Mulvihill |
M |
8-30 |
|
H.M.R. |
Henry Lennart z |
II |
9-00 |
|
H.M.R. |
Mrs. Helene V. Hill and son, Walter |
Thursday |
6-30 |
|
H.M.R. |
Dr. G. Conti |
n |
7-00 |
|
H.M.R. |
Mrs. Mary Bryson O'Malley |
11 |
7-30 |
|
H.M.R. |
William, Mary and Daniel Flanigan |
II |
8-00 |
|
H.M.R. |
John A. Beck |
II |
8-30 |
|
H.M.R. |
Ann Shoran |
M |
9-00 |
|
H.M. |
yhr . & Mrs. Nicholas Snyder, Son & Daughter |
Friday |
6-30 |
|
H.M. |
Louise Doran and David Doran, Jr. |
It |
7-00 |
|
H.M. |
Roman Felix Bialas |
n |
7-30 |
|
H.M. |
Richard P. Weldon |
II |
8-00 |
|
H.M. |
James K. Lanahan |
II |
8-30 |
H.M.R. A.H.M.R. A. H.M.R.
H.M.R.
H.M.R.
H.M.R
Th
Charles J. Niess
Patrick Kenney
Benjamin Schmidt
Philip Brennan Reilly
Deceased Members of Burns Family
John Batty.. ap,d^eG09:.s.ed..irLQmbers of family
Saturday
M
6- 30
7- 00
7- 30
8- 00
8- 30
9- 00
choolsiwill reopen on Tuesday, September 2nd.
Parents an"d guardians are reminded of their duty to send their childr? _ .to- Gatholio" Schools. Those who fail in this duty cannot receive the / ' Sacraments. J
.y?v
Families that have rooms to rent to students will please give us today, thoir names, addresses and description of the rooms. Registration cards for this purpose may be obtained in the sacristy.
The Special Collection for the De Paul Institute, recommended by the Bishop, in his letter read last Sunday, will be taken up today. The cause is a very worthy one and will appeal to your generosity. Please use the special envelopes which you will find at the doors.
THS UTIH 7ISW
The otlier dajr a suggestion was made that the views of Latin-Americans be ascertained with regard to American efforts to gain good will among the Republics of the Latin blood. A recent speech of J. M. Bejarano, Secretary of the Mexican Chamber of Commerce in Hew York, is stated to be typical of the views held in these countries.
Kr. Bejarano said: ’’The Latin-American people fear that the United States has no other than business interest in the countries. Least danger to this expansion of American sales lies in the anxiety of the people to control power, and the distiirbances which may arise there-from. These three factors should be weii^ed.
As to investment, the early investments of France and Groat Britain resulted in personal ties, and the investors reaped profit in dividends cheerfully paid for service rendered. At a dosen Latin-American points the Englishman found a slum and left a city, and on plantations he made two blades of grass grow where one had grown before. The modern investments of the United States, backed by }iorae government, are loans to governments, and their nature is. such as not to bring the nations concerned an inch closer to the United States, in friendship and understanding.
That is why Calles invited to Mexico "capital with a concience? The people in the United States most heed the awakening of the consciousness of the man of the masses in Latin America.
Mexico is taking a leading part in the ideas that represent this awakening. And let me suggest that, without detriment to the activities of the Pan American Union as a political liaison among Pam America and without detriment to the Pan Araericem Corimerical Congress as a business tie amongst our countries, we pay earnest attention to the unconceited, modest and more or less tentative activities of a group to which Pr. Samuel Guy Innan belongs and which represents the tendency to create and develop spiritual, intellectual and social intercourse between the peoplesnorth and south of the Rio Grande, with the aim in view of making out of the men and women who populate the three Americas what a Mexic n thinker has called the "Cosmic Race" of the future.
<
/
From Pan Pacific Progress. 1930
136
CHILE PAN-AM
RILDCDOIN
_
/
Church vs.
State
THE TIES between religious and political parties that still linger in many sections of Latin America have mani¬ fested themselves recently in clerical and anti-clerical manifestations in Colombia, and in the barring of the Anglican bishop of Trinidad from Venezuela. In Colombia the fact that political activities center around two main parties, the Conserva¬ tive and the Liberal, has made injection of religious feeling into political cam¬ paigns a simple matter, as the Conserva¬ tives are traditionally the Church party and the Liberals the anti-clerics (Presi¬ dent Enrique Olaya Herrera Is a Liberal whose early education was obtained in a Protestant school of Bogota). In Vene¬ zuela the barring of the Anglican Bishop of Trinidad (Anglican churches in Vene¬ zuela form a part of his diocese) is the result of a general reluctance to admit for¬ eign clergymen following the expulsion of Mgr. Montes de Oca in October, 1929. Since then the Venezuelan government has been firm in its stand that the Venezuelan Catholic Church be composed of digni¬ taries and officials of Venezuelan citizen¬ ship. This is what Mexico has also in¬ sisted on.
These and other Incidents that un¬ doubtedly are to come are the result of the Inevitable readjustment that must be made in many parts of Latin America where the Church is still a lingering mediaeval institution and its Influence in politics over-predominant. Brazil has also seen religious strife due to the efforts of the Catholic Church to have its faith offi¬ cially recognized in the new Brazilian con¬ stitution. Farther afield, Spain will be following the steps of her former colonies.
Catholics vs.
Protestants
PHE religious question in Latin Amer¬ ica. however, is not fought out in Latin America alone. Guns also boom in the United States as the result of LInited States missionary work. In New York (annual meeting of the Catholic Association for International Peace, April 7), the Rev. Edwin Ryan, S.T.D., of the Faculty of Letters of the Catholic University, Wash¬ ington, D. C., launched another attack on Protestant missionary work in Latin America. “Preparing a generation of atheists,” and “fostering an Intense dis¬ like” among Latin Americans for the United States are the results of the activi¬ ties of Protestant missionaries, according to Father Ryan. “European Protestants,” he declared, "have decided that South America is no longer a field for proselytiz¬ ing, but Protestant missionaries from the United States aim not only to minister to people of their own religion but proselytize the Continent.” Result of their labors: Only a small number of Latin Americans have been converted to Protestantism ; chief effect is a weakening of their original
faith and the starting of individuals “on the road to infidelity.”
Dr. Ryan, who has made several visits to Latin America, brought out in The Missionary (Washington, Nov., 1929) that the Edinburgh Congress took the position that South America was not a field for Protestant missionary endeavor since it is already a Christian land; that European Protestants have lived up to that agreement, and those residing in Latin America “mind their own business” and make no attempt to intrude upon the do¬ main of Catholicism; that U. S. Prot¬ estants go there not to minister to their countrymen abroad but “to entice the na¬ tive from the Catholic Church.” The contrast is quite plainly perceived by every¬ one, according to Dr. Ryan. "It is the contrast betu’een a gentlenuin and a nuisance."
CHIEF “nuisance” then, according to Father Ryan, would be Mr. Samuel Guy Inman, Secretary of the Committee on Cooperation in Latin America, missionary czar as Mr. Will Hays is movie czar. Early in March serious El Mercurio of Santiago, Chile, ran an editorial criticiz¬ ing Mr. Inman for professing Pan Ameri¬ canism while his magazine. La Nueva Democracia (New \’ork), Spanish mis¬ sionary organ, published aspersions on the government of Chile. Recalled, too, that Mr. Inman was the same gentleman that during the Santiago Pan-American con¬ ference raised a hullabaloo because U. S. Ambassador Collier served liquers. La Nueva Democracia retaliates in its’ April issue by reprinting in large type brief, un¬ complimentary statement from Time on “Dictator” Carlos Ibanez of Chile. Be¬ yond comprehension indeed is the attitude of a Protestant religious journal circulat¬ ing in Latin America attacking Latin American executives.
Criticisms against Mr. Inman have also been raised for his traveling in Latin America as a member of the faculty of Columbia Liniversity (Mr. Inman has a
one-semester lecture course there) Instead of frankly as a representative of the mis¬ sion boards. “Subterfuge” his enemies proclaim.
The Forces and The Ammunition
PROTESTANTS in Latin America (Including foreigners) are estimated at \% of the Catholic population (Cath¬ olics, 90,000,000; Protestants, 900,000). But the H'orld Missionary Atlas of 1925 gave native Protestant churches in South America a communicant membership of 122,266 with 2,006 clergy and other workers. Protestant communicants in all Latin America today are estimated at 215,000. Most militant and aggressive of the U. S. missionary groups are the Methodists. Antagonism against mission¬ aries has also been aroused by the prac¬ tice of the home organizations of securing aid for their work by painting Latin America in dire moral and social barbar¬ ism; by the practice of missionaries to write “home” moronic inanities. Example of language used: “What battalions of ignorance and superstition are intrenched in this vast territory [Latin America]. What spiritual slavery enthralls its masses, what spiritual famine starves its infidel intellectuals!” Examples of inttm- perate slogans used by missionary go-get¬ ters: “Chile: Where Protestantism and Temperance are Synonomous (sic).” (Title of bulletin of the Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church, price .1 cents, 1 Evidence that ignorance, inrem- perance of language, and missionary work are often synonymous.
A writer to a New York newspaper de¬ fended missionary work as follows: “I believe we should spread the gospel. Spreading the gospel brought civilization to the Anglo-Saxons In Britain.”
Catholic vs.
Catholics
ANOTHER ASPECT of the religious dispute is found in a series of articles in America (New York), a Catholic weekly, written by Wilfred Parsons, S.J., editor- in-chief visiting Mexico. Theme of series: “Anti-Catholic Mexico," criticism of Mexican official attitude toward Church. I'his series shows that the error of Cath¬ olics in U. S. is to fail to see clearly the problem of Church and State relations in Latin America and the needs of reforming the Church. The Catholic Church in many places of Latin America is pre- Council of 'Frent, wordly, very unlike the Church in U. S. An attitude such as Archbishop Curley’s in 1927 during the .Mexican crisis urging intervention in Mexico, and denunciations of “Red” Mexico spread by the Knights of Colum¬ bus, only foster enmity. Editor Parsons’ is a saner, serener survey of present con¬ ditions, bvit the title indicates the bias. If, as the Catholics insist, Protestant missionary workers create atheists, so do efforts to thwart reform of the Catholic Church in Latin America, attempting to keep it mediaeval in a modern, progres¬ sive, impulsive age.
MAY, 1931
135
some authorities liold the opinion that the law still contains points which will act as a drawback to extensive production and exportation. Among these points are the Government royalties of 11% to 2%, ac¬ cording to the distance of the wells from the port; the export tax, and the fact that the Government bears no part of the transportation costs.
The fact that new sources of crude oil supply are not needed at the present time makes it necessary for more atrac- tive inducements constantly to be offered in order to further the exploitation of un¬ developed fields. The Colombian Gov¬ ernment has placed import taxes on equipment and subjects oil companies to an income tax, which its neighbor, Vene¬ zuela, does not do. This may lead to a more extensive development of the Vene¬ zuelan fields than those of Colombia.
The following is the revised official list of world crude oil production for January, 1931. from H’orld Petroleum. Preliminary February figures show Venezuela in third place due to reductions in production, Rus¬ sia occupying third place (Russia 11 mil¬ lion bbl., Venezuela 10 million):
J.ANU.XRY, 1931 (ReVISHD)
(Com’ersion liasis, 1 Ton — 1 hhl.)
Countries Barrels
Total production . 110,667,288
ITited States . 65,991,000
.VI other countries . 44,676,288
V'enezuela (Estimate) . 12,500,000
Russia and Sakhalin . 12,072,900
Roumania . 4,233,810
Dutch East Indies (Estimate) . . . 3,226,854
Persia . 3,201,156
Mexico . 2,890,903
Colombia (1ml. Petroleum) . 1,657,694
Peru . 986,902
Trinidad . 821,523
.Argentine (Estimate) . 780,000
India-British (Estimate) . 583,333
Poland . 390,600
*Sarawak . 326,956
Japan and Taiwan (Estimate) .. 197,500
JEgypt . 196,021
Canada . 179,711
Ecuador . 137,531
Germany . 127,894
Iraq (Estimate) . 100,000
Others (Estimate) . 65,000
*Sarawak; four weeks to Feb. 6, tEgypt; five weeks to Feh. 6.
Where figures are not official, they are giv'en as estimates.
Soviet
Cas
RUSSIA crashed heavily against the bulwarks of British and United States trade supremacy in Latin America when several large shipments of Russian gasoline arrived in Santos (port of San Paulo) Brazil. This gasoline sells for 25 cents a gallon as opposed to the 32 cents for Brit¬ ish and U. S. gas. Its arrival resulted in heavy price slashing that may lead to a price-war, as the market has already been reported to be poor for gasoline in Brazil. These shipments were ordered by a Uru¬ guayan company operating the length of the eastern coast.
XPLOIRAHOINI
Pacaraima
Expedition
AIRPLANES have made the explora¬ tion of polar regions a matter of days in¬ stead of weary months. Now the jungle is also to be scanned from the air. Speed¬ ing aircraft will survey and map one of the largest unknown frontiers bordering our present-day civilization — the Paca¬ raima region on the Venezuela-Brazil boundary line. Around August 15 the Pacaraima- Venezuela Expedition, under the leadership of Howard E. Anthony, will leave the States for Port of Spain, Trinidad, from which point the expedition will fly inland (see map). For the last few weeks planes have been undergoing intense overhauling to fit them for tlie long southward journey into the wilder¬ ness of the Pacaraima mountains. In a matter of hours they will skim over humid, dense jungles through which even rubber workers have scarcely penetrated and
Map showing area to be explored by the Venezuela-Pacaraima expedition
which by any other means of transporta¬ tion would entail months of travel and endless difficulties caused by insects, malaria, swamps, high mountains.
In putting their heads together and con¬ ceiving their plan of an aereal survey the American Geographic Society,* the Ameri¬ can .Museum of Natural History, and the New "Vork Botanical Gardens have placed the search for geographical and scientific data of our hemisphere in keeping with the rapid stride of our mechanical age.
While the Mason Expedition over the areas of the Mayan cities of Guatemala and Mexico was carried out by plane, it was almost entirely for the purpose of locating hitherto undiscovered bulges on
* Not to be confused with the more popularized, less scientific. National Geographic Societj
the horizon that might indicate the pres¬ ence of a .Maya temple; practically no actual field work was done. While ad¬ mittedly useful, it is hardly comparable to the Howard Anthony expedition.
In this there will be three planes used, one of them a scout to discover possible landing fields and prepare them for two larger planes. At the location selected as a base of operations radio equipment will he installed, and from that point the three planes will soar afield, establishing new camps and keeping in constant radio com¬ munication with their base.
The Chief pilot of this expedition will be George A. Thorne, Jr., who was a member of Byrd’s Antarctic Expedition. For the larger planes Mr. Thorne has selected a Lockheed Vega and a Fokker Lfniversal, which he is having equipped with interchangeable landing wheels and pontoons.
On the eastern border of the area to be explored. Mount Roraima rears its perpendicular buttresses 8,600 feet above the sea from an almost treeless lowland. Above the encircling clouds the pink and white sandstone cliffs of the mountain are crowned by a huge plateau of 25 square miles. Four hundred miles to the south¬ west the mass of Cerro Duida juts to the sky, surrounded by a great plain where prowl the tapir and the peccary, the jaguar and the puma, and where the Spider monkey and the Cebus monkey chatter amid the coconuts. From the summit of Cerro Duida, the wide and winding band of the Orinoco may he clearly seen, only ten miles distant. I'linging their lonely summits against the sky, these gigantic mountains remain monuments to some titanic struggle of nature, the secret of which they have kept hidden so many cen¬ turies.
This will not be the first exploration they suffer. Since the Schomburgk Ex¬ pedition of 1838 there have been thirteen others in this region, the last of which was the Tate Expedition of 1927-29, spon¬ sored also by the American Museum of Natural History. This expedition brought back much valuable scientific data, and did much to develop a knowledge of the Maguiritare Indians who inhabit the region.
Worthy as they were, none of the pre¬ vious expeditions can compare its possi¬ bilities with those of the projected ex¬ ploration by air, lacking the transportation facilities for apparatus and mobility for personnel provided by the new develop¬ ments of science.
The constantly increasing possibilities of the airplane for exploration and mapping purposes will not only advance man’s knowledge of the frontiers of civilization but will open to commercialization vast natural resources.
It has already been reliably established that there are large gold deposits in these areas to be mapped and explored. The possibility of black diamonds or carbona¬ dos is strong; that of enormous timber resources already well established. The expedition, however, is not being made for purely commercial reasons, although that aspect will doubtless, as usual, receive much greater publicity than the scientific.
|
CHILE Where Protestantism and Temperance Are Synonomous Dorothy R. Edwards |
|
CHILE— WHERE PROTESTANTISM AND TEMPERANCE ARE SYNONOMOUS
Dorothy R. Edwards
T WAS Palm Sunday in the perfect setting of an ideal Indian summer day. In the aristocratic suburb of Chile’s largest port, the regular church-going constituency of the still dominant, though no longer State religion, found its number augmented by that less faithful element which makes a point of recognizing its religious responsibility at least once a year — during Holy Week. They found upon arriving at the church doors the usual display of palm leaves and ornaments made therefrom which are offered for sale as souvenirs of these special occasions.
The venders of these articles presented a most incongruous group. There was the little, neat, old woman who really seemed to feel the dignity of her work. Beside her a younger, unkempt woman insistently displayed her works of art. Mere children, without the least con¬ ception of the significance of the day, anxiously sought out customers. And saddest of all, a young wreck of a man, half clothed, carried numerous palm branches in hopes of a sale.
Scarcely had the noisy pounding of the church bells ceased, when the crowds began to drift away from the church toward the nearby city. What drew them there? A great procession, a sort of triumphal entry of the political hero of the people. And so the significance of the day, all that appealed to the inner man, the Man of Sorrows himself, was forgotten in the great interest in the man of the hour who had fearlessly carried on against the forces of evil and tried to bring order out of chaos and avert economic disaster.
Could they but understand that, however good his intentions may be, however consecrated he may be to his task, he can never accomplish all that they hope for until their hearts respect the laws of God and each acknowledges his duty toward his neighbor. And that will never be until mere ceremonial religion, replaced by the principles of the real
Liberator, has been put into practice in the lives of the leaders and people alike. Now, as never before, the people are reaching out tO' ward better things. It is our duty to point the way, to make our re- ligion stand out as a vital force in the solving of humanity’s problems, in forming a solid base on which to rear a nation’s integrity and a nation’s peace and happiness.
4: 4: 4c 4: ^ *
Those in the homeland, who look upon Latin America’s turmoils with a big sisterly interest and real desire to help, will find that there is no saner way than in taking advantage of the multitudinous op' portunities in reaching the many souls who have not found themselves because they have never found the Great Teacher whose principles have made our land what it is.
Many of the men and women who have had the advantage of contacts with missionary teachers and preachers are foremost iir the reforms and progressive measures that are being adopted here today. The little boy who sat in a mission school over thirty years ago and received new ideas and ideals from his Chrisitian teacher is today the great temperance leader in Chile. And today Protestantism and Temperance are synonomous.
The progress along that line is really remarkable and is opening new doors of opportunity to us. The saddest part of it is that we can- not always take advantage of those open doors. Some time ago the Protestant Church was asked to help out in doing some social service work for the laboring man who had just found himself bereft of the saloon in the crowded slum section of the port of Valparaiso. The new dry law was a decided step forward, but how much more it would mean to the men whom it affects if the church could offer them a meeting place where they might not only find a better environment, a broader vision of citizenship and brotherhood, but also a saving know¬ ledge of the Brother of Man. For lack of a place, equipment and funds, we must needs say, “No, we cannot help in this wonderful work.’’
4: 4= * * 4c 4:
There arc twenty-five groups of women scattered over Chile, bound together in one national league. Their motto is, “Saved to Serve,’’ and the preparation for service is one of the things toward
which they are striving. These women want to know how to be better mothers and to teach other women what they have learned. They are earnest in their efforts to reach and help their unconverted sisters and brothers. They visit the hospitals and jails; they go into the homes of the sick. One woman cured a family of seven of that dread disease, the itch. They believe in the power of prayer and give it an important place in their work. The Latin American Prayer Circle has completed a successful year of consecrated effort in prayer for the Christianizing of Latin America.
* * * * * *
On the arid coast of northern Chile there nestles a little town hemmed in by the Coast Range, whose foothills rise abruptly within four or five blocks from the sea. Its only reason for existing is to form an outlet for the saltpeter brought down from the interior by an English railroad company. This little town, and others like it, flourish like a bay tree when the nitrate market is at its best. But when the sales fall off and the plants stop producing, the suffering of the people becomes acute.
In one of these periods of depression the resident missionary took into his home a little half -starved boy of twelve years, sending him to school and giving him work outside of school hours whereby he could earn enough to help his numerous brothers and sisters. The missionary had been warned to watch him. His idea of the evil of stealing, Hke that of many others, consisted in being caught. The first year pre¬ sented its difficulties. But the child was eager to learn everything. When the missionary returned from itinerating trips he quite fre¬ quently found his carpenter’s tools in a hopeless condition, but Humberto had some article to display, the work of his own hands, and it was hard to dull his enthusiasm by mentioning dull tools. They could always be sharpened again. One day the missionary wife was called away from the kitchen while engaged in the very delicate process of making boiled cake icing. Humberto assured her he could do it. And he turned out in her absence an icing which many cooks might envy. His power of observation was great.
Like many people in the northern part of Chile, his ideas of re¬ ligion were very vague. He knew there was a Catholic church in the plaza, but he saw very few people entering it. The humble, little
building that served as a Protestant church nestles right under the hill on which he lived, but his mother had never permitted him to enter it. In his own home religion was a thing unknown.
But, after entering the missionary family, he soon became a member of the Sunday school. He was one of a class of six boys who kept the school in such turmoil and presented such a problem that the mis- sionary had to abandon his class of men to take over the class of boys. When he was off itinerating the boys would peer in the door on Sunday to see if he had returned. If he were not in evidence they beat a hasty retreat, much to the disgust of the serious elder and some of the deacons who wanted to discipline them. But little by little these boys developed, not least among them Humberto.
After four years in this little port the missionary family had to move on. Humberto secured a position in the foundry of the rail¬ road company and began to learn a trade. During an ensuing crisis in business Humberto held his job when many of the older men were laid off.
Today Humberto, grown tall, a fine looking youth, is vice-president of the Christian Endeavor society and secretary of the Sunday school. Another of that group of boys is president of the society, while still another takes an active part in the church services.
In the same little church the missionary has seen a beautiful girl blossom into womanhood, marry an evangelist and start forth on the road of service and sacrifice. When one marries on twenty-two dollars a month, one expects sacrifices, yet how willingly, how gladly they were made. Even when the menu of the day included nothing but clear coffee and bread without butter, there was no complaint, no weakening of purpose.
This portion of northern Chile for which the Presbyterians are responsible covers about 45,000 square miles and includes about 140,000 souls. The most northern part consists of these little port towns and vast interior expanses of desert where the miners live and work and die, often without a knowledge of the saving power of Jesus Christ. The southern portion of the North Field includes agri¬ cultural districts, towns that have suffered from frequent earthquakes and economic upheavals. In all this territory one missionary and his
wife and three native pastors minister to the needs of the people. Farther south is the great central valley with its myriad towns and villages, and its 1,500,000 population. Many of them have been reached, but many more have not been touched, due to the lack of Christian workers.
IK 4s iC iK :<!
The most discouraging feature in the mission work of Chile today is the lack of men — National* leaders whom we can count on for the future. A few years ago, because of the urgent need of increasing the salaries of our Chilean pastors, it was necessary to limit their number. This was due to local economic conditions. Up to the present m.oment it has not been possible to replace those who were dismissed. But if we would really bring Christ to our Latin American brethren, we must train Latin American leaders.
And to this end we must try to understand the Latin American temperament. They are a lovable people, responsive when treated properly, resentful when not. Politically Latin America carries a chip on her shoulder and the United States seems frequently to have the misfortune of disturbing its position, if not actually knocking it off. Latin Americans cannot stand having their dignity offended; North Americans often lack tact; and so misunderstandings arise. A full and friendly recognition of real values in Latin American life is wholly desirable as producing that confidence, without which our work is sorely handicapped.
When the Church at home realises to the full its great opportunity and responsibility to the nations of Latin America, when the prayer life here and there consistently backs up the work already under way, then and then only can these nations build on solid foundations.
* National — meaning “Chilean.*'
Price, 3 cents
THE BOARD OF FOREIGN MISSIONS of the Presbyterian Church in the U. S. A. 156 Fifth Avenue New York
4454
1928
t
PAHTIAl. HISTOllY 0? TIiG 70HS 01* THH!
SOOTH BRAZIL insGioir.
1936*
» V
■•■ y
Sit*
HISTORY OF BRAZIL MISSIGH
T3
lack in the 1820's, the state;
''s, the states of''3outh Air.erica emerged into in¬ dependence and almost all showed a‘- gneat readiness to give hospitality and conside>'’atir.n to Protestant views. Our churches at heme were at the oim.e t,oo weak aioa too little organized to take advantage of this. Adventurers co’nnissioned by various religious bodies vi..ited various
eagerne ss , '
countries 5 including Brazil, and their reports were read with
especially^ by tlae young. Fletcher and Kidder, agents of the Bible Society, me one a Presbyterian, the other a ilethodist, v/ere responsible xor a book which is to this day a treasure of information with regard to the Brazil of ius time and v/hich started m.uch thought in the United States,
Am.ong others who were aroused by it,
Green Sim.onton, who
,, was a young minister, Ashbel vvj-iu , as a lawyer who had passed to the study of theology, brought to the consideration of his problems more breadth of thought
average young theologiie. He offered his services to the Board Brazil and was accepted, reaching Brazil on the 12th of August and organized the Presbyterian Church of Rio on the 12,th of 1862. He had found
Dr. Kaliey, v/ho had followed som.e of his Hadeirense converts Dr. Kaliey, from his experr'ence in Madeira, was very shy of of Ric de Janeiro and carried on his work in a property adjacent
than the to go to of 1859, J anuary , the Rev. Brazil . me City 10
on_v to
the Brinish
embassy in Petropolis, so first carried on in the national canital
that Mr. Sim.onton 's vc rk was the
Mr. Simenton ' s diary, wMch is in the possession of the Board, gives us_a full and clear picture of the man, his’ m.ode of life and the questions v/hich he encountered. Plr. Sim.onton went back to the U.S., married and returned at once to Brazil, His v/ife died in child birth about a year 1' ter. His infant daughter was brought up in the States, where she after¬ ward became the m.eans of au/akening the Ep'isccpal Church to the desirability of opening a Brazil m.ission.
r.ir . Kaliey and Mr, Sim.onton served as pebbles dropped into the sea of this vast xand of Brazil, and v/ave after wave has followed another, one ^v/hispcring to the other, as they spread fan-wise from, che nation's capital 5 Rio c.e Janeiro, until now they have broken beycnc'. the mighty Am.azon on tbe north, the borders of Chile and Peru on tiie v/est, and the Argentine on the south.
Let us briefly describe some of these waves.
Rio de Janeiro .
Haturally the .largest and strongest of the v/aves was the one in the city and state of Rio de Janeiro, v/hich was the first Station. Pitre Mr. Sim.onton preached the first Sunday after landing, in English, on a sailing ship in the harbor: here he started his work in Portuguese, just eight months after landing, with a Sunday-school of five children: here on May IGth, 1861 he preached his first serm.on in Portuguese and on Jan. 12th, 18S2, organized the first Presbyterian church in Brazil. On Oct. SSth, 1864, began publishing the "Im-prensa Evangelica", the evangelical paper v;hich produced the v/idest impression in Brazil. In
2„
wi oil
1867, he started the first theological fen.inary in Braz: students, nho fcacame some of the strongest irhnisters the Pre shy tori an Chijrch in Brazil has producedo After only 8 years of service he laid dov/n the load in 1867, but Blackford, Schneider, Lenington, Houston, Hazletl
' 3 -V;
:.he Federa
/le , Rodgers and others took it up and carried on until today Capital ciiid its suburbs has its Presbytery with 16 organized
churches, cared for by 21 ministers, and the State of Rio has tv;o more
Presbyteri;
with 10 ministers
caring
for 34 churches; the three
Presbyteries having 6500 members; all the churches being self-suioportingo
And th.is first wave Fspirito Santo ■vith 30 ministers
O t cl 0 c o ,
broke over into the tv70 neighboring Minas Geraes, where there are today four Presbyteries and 85 churches, with 14000 mem.berSo Thus one third of the adult membership of the Presbyterian Church of Brazil is the result of the first wave which broke.
Sao Paulo ,
The second v/ave broke over into the State of Sao Paulo, where Mr, Simenton's brother-in-law, Rev, Plr , Blackford, began work in the Capital, preaching tiie first serm.on in Portuguese Nov, 29th, 1863, and organizing the first church on Mar, 5th, 1865, with the reception of six members, two of vvhom, Miguel Torres and Antonio Trajano, ^vith Modesto Garvalhosa and Antonio Pedro, v;ho made their profession tne follov/ing year, became the first students of the theological Seminary in Rio de Janeiro and were soon ordained. In Sao Paulo also was organized the first presbytery, "Rio de Janeiro", v/hich ordained at its first meeting in December of 1865, the Rev, Jose I\/ianuel da Conceigao, a converted priest; at its second meeting in 1866 ordained the Rev,
Go ,7, Chamberlain, an American, at its fifth meeting, in 1869, ordained the Rev. '.7, D, Pitt, am English merchant of Sao Paulo. A Brazilian, an AjT.erican and an Englishman! prophecy of the cosmiopolitan character of the Brazilian Church, which has had as its ministers Americans, Englishmen, Germans, Frenchmen, Italians, Portuguese, Syrians, Armenians, Spaniards , Danes, Dutch, Poles, Sv/edes, Sv/iss and Canadians,
The 3rd and 4th churches in Brazil v;er6 also organized in the otate of Sac Paulo, at Brotas and Lorena, Our brethren of the Pres, Church South also mnde Sao Paulo their first field of labor in Brazil, organizing churches at Campinas and Sta, Barbara in 1870, in Campinas they organized in 1869 the first Protestant school of higher learning to be established on the Sout^i American continent, still carrying on its work in Lavras, in Minas. „In 1870 Pi’s, G, V/, Cham.berlain started on the porch of her hcm.e in Sao Paulo the Escola Americana from which was developed the Mackenzie College, which had in 1936 more than 1700 studentvS in its several departments. The Theologiaal Seminary of the Presbyterian Church of Brazil is today located in the State of Sac Paulo, having already sent into the Presbyterian mdnistry more than 150 men and with an enrollment today of 37,
Of our Mission, Revs. Blackford, Schneider, Chamberlain, Fires, McKee, R, Lenington, Dagama, Vanorden, Howell, G, Landes, Kolb,
MacLaren, porter, Maddell, Carrington, Perkins, R. F, Lenington, Carriel, Salley and Plarper, have all lived and vi/orked in this State,
3
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'/■' 01 1371,
VQ.iemGiTG op .ogition aiiu
IvO j. irst GO.TvC;:’
liau oO nearly sinp'lc -iianc'e:
.■’ortLuiatGly
A' I/O aCGG )
axter
L/Or
X 10
iru,y..n;:5
ij . \
arcGG da :o;; the
h- fOijld.
O-
renlvin,:. to nil tlirGat ;itn toe
u-
■'ll q1
^'it
V/ iG exec;/', enicatio
t-.
t.;a tenchi.i .3 o" the Jesus vjher. y ;ls- your .jositioiij 1 ’..'ill lisoG-i to ycu‘'c ..'ati’.rall, no sueh teachinp.s ec 1^ be s lo.rij anj voa tlien on ^ reotestajit." had a ri,,ht to live i..i Jah'a. This sar’-.e earpenLer later c‘-.)i:,ained tox' r. jehneider tno rjh'*3t of Jao navel oran jc scions .'oiedL - Gre sc'i. l Lo vne tiiced .states, t./o of .v-iic!i arc still Gho-.',n in hive x'sirie , Cal id'crnia ^ and v.'ore the ancosLorG of the o'vel c ’ranges that nc-.’ .fill the . .eric an
L-'jnci ._iLi x’c w t,' n
O J
1Z72<} and its ieflucnce
aole to orjajiize fic hah in C.i'U''''c i on .%prii .U.'v,, .ee^.rni to spread .Cor and. v.'ide, Lo IT ?a t'.ie dev.
J. T. .iouston arrive^..' ■, ron: t.he .jtatx.'S and settled in Cac]'’0Gii'a , '..'dere sooe rn'GC'rcst had. been .siiov/'n. Ui -jcpt. ISth, 1875, lie had the jcy of or-’aniz- in.j’ the Cachoeir^' cliuoch; i:n co. .pany v;ith 'T. jchneidcr. fjic nen converts were persecuted ir.cst terrijly, one o '’ the favorite rianifcstavions bcin.; the hcaviny of recks and brickoats tlirou h the windcv.vs of th.c cieurc"’ 'nail, v.ov.’.en and enild;eon havin ■ Uxeir heads cut 'ey Tallin x stones and
In 1077 .lev. "iOoei'''t Lenin ytO/,i tech ..n Ji'O torch and ca rice. t;ie
Pr7'7 "J
jospel into r.any outlyinr; districts. In 188C ca'T;e the lev. and he n.as ao'lc to .'.nk" uic v;avc brea]: on over into the jtat ’..'here he oryanized t]'C haraipCGiras churcli on .Jcc. SOth, 1854
Clackfc.rd cC jcryipe,
itC V ^ • cJ »
. V . addell ■ deese ,
, . Gho.;‘.'.)crlainp CcCall.i hioxandor
naes.
, j * .L'v.# .
'cClen-.ents .
d Ca’-.'.eron, J. .3. i.olb, ,. 3. dinley,
,5 C. 3. d'ixlor, . . .1. Ghar.'.berlain,
ij.?.a.er s on .p /.■* « /.■* • drajia'/./j x • j. xiX
* • ■
.V o O
and d. I,, .addell, h.ave been uhc v.'orthy successors of the fii-^o aiid today a l-urye .. resxyytery of 12 Braz ilia 1 ministers is carin'
2C; churenes .;iL'i .'.ere tha'U 2C00 n'arr.bcrs, sca’ricrcd over t^'C t o neates.
... .jnert.; .Jo J. ^ernahan, J, 3. Johnson, j: . C, hakcr- d. . Varhauy,
xo;
i arana .
*uacther .vavc iispered to one Jose Layos-j of Castro, v;/ic "nad. been ta’ajht sorr.c 'trutixa of God by his notricr. nl though a v.dckcd hun, lie was always tryii\,' to but in vain.
nd peace for his soul in the cercr.onics of Jiis church- -
The
read in;-; of a Ciolc and the findinx the "Ixiprensa ivanyelica" caused hiir. to write to dev daxina, askiny hi to co.r.e and explain tlie Gospel, .uitonic ledro died that i'-ear. Lagos then ’..'rote .Dr. Char.-focrlai:i, who started but had to turn back. Finally in 1884 caj.ie the dev. Robert Lenington and Joitonio .linhoiro, a convert, v.iic soon found Jose Lagos. 1 e and. his \;ife confessed Christ. Lagos took .r. Lenington to Fundao v.'here the first ch.urch. in i arana was organized on Oct. 10, 1884. One of the first reGir.be Jorge, the 43rd of her husband did no
01 sores copies 01 , •uitonio xodro at
o^osG
:4 children. 'had a daughter, D, Cliza Jorge who, finding jiave tie co’ura.ge to read 'U-ic 'Jible to 10 r pray '.'.d th
4
his children, o.id so church, all tithers, have sprung frorr. her i.ontaria .
herself. Their children are all merr.bers of tlie and her sons are elders and deacons, four churches faithfulness - fspigao nlto, oenges, Qoa Vista and
To Castro, Lir. Lenington v;ent, and from there, accompanied oy Jos4 Lagos, v/ent on to Tibagy and Guarapuava, vdiere he had great difficulty in obtainin,^' a hall in v/hich he m.ight preach, but the hiasons finally granted one. Cne of uho leading Lheons helped in the arrangements , but said he \;as not interested in the meetings. One Sunday, returnin;; from parrot-shooting, he passed by and, hearing preaching^ entered to rest.
,v'hat v/as his surprise to find the missionary preaching to tv/o bpys of 12 and 14, and one of them black. (One of the boys v.'as afterwards Governor of the otate of i'arana and m^arried a girl who \;as educated by the isses Kuhl and Dascomb in the Sscola ^toericana. He did not accept tlie Gospel, but v;as always friendly to the missionaries). Tenento Lletz, the lason, said he did not pay much attention to the sermon, but thought; "this man's religion must be worth something if he is willing to leave his homeland, co;.o 60(0 miles across the sea, and travel on ]ior3Gback over cur terrible pack- trails, simply to preach his relig;ion to two small boys. I had bettor investigate this religion." He did so, i.as converted, and for f years held the preaching services in his own home.
In 1885 Hr. j..cnington was joined by tlie Rev. '1. h. Landes, v;ho became the .evangelist of iarana. He scon called to his aid the Rev. darval/iosa, and the tv.'O travelled up aid down the Jtate, organizing 4 churc'ics in 5 jyears. .'lion .Jnr. Carvalhosa took charge of the Curityba Church during the absence of r. i^andes on furlough, he rented a larger hall. Gne of the younger m.en, who afteimvards became an elder in the church, said '‘unr. Carvalhosa, do you ever hope to fill this Inall with people?" "Ho, but I expect God to fill it. ' God ansv;ered and the hall soon became too small. Then came Dr. aOrter to the help of the Lravelling mnssionarics , and, together with ..r. Landes, they built the beautiful church in -the Capital of the Dtatc , Curityba.
In
Curi
1892 .
. Dr.
iss
iJl.r.ira Kuhl and Grace Lane, Lres.
of I.ackenzie College, asked
Carvalh.csa, daug^'.ter of the pastor
iss Vary larker Dascomb came to
3. .^Glla v.hc. '7as opening of
9
Jan.
of the .resbyterian Church,
directing a Christian school, to join these two ladies in the one large evangelical Jchocl. The Dscola -\mericana ..'as started in 1892 with about 66 pupils. During the 23 years of hiss Kuhl's and ^
J'iss Dascomb 'G adiulnistration the school grew to be a fgreat oov.nr for good^ its iimfiuence reaching far and wdde. These two v;oinen lived nobly and died nobly, after having touched many lives for good.
;■ iss .fffie Lenington, iss nngie kuhl, Hiss Gertrude Lukens , iss /Onna G. i-almer and . iss Dorothy . artin served in love and capability during the years.
In 1915 irs. ... . . jiallock took over all the responsibility of the school, bringin ; it to an Ue-to-date institution. iss Dtoner, : iss Dthelwyn iorter, .iss Dclle kerherson, as teachers and nurse, gave splendid service to the school - all of them of beautiful Christian character, especially interested in the souls of the girls under them.
In 1922 I.'iss Gavena Hall assum.ed the directorship, Hrs. Hallock
5.
having gone to the Escola Americana of Mackenzie College in Sao Paulo.
Miss Hall v;as joyfully assisted by Miss Helga Johnson. The school 'vas in a splendid financial condition when in 1926 Miss Hslsn Waddell, young and very talented, took over the work and carried it on successfully until 1929 when she v;ent to the J.M.Co at Jandyra.
Miss Ida Kolb, who had been with the school as a pupil and teacher, then was appointed and carried on the traditions of the school, even under the hardships of the revolutions of 1930 and 1932, and the depression tha.t followed.
The pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Curityba, Rev. Luis L. A. Cesar, was very desirous to start a Gymnasio in connection with the Escola Americana, v;h6re the young people could be reached and receive Christian training as well. The S.B.M. considered the proposition and ^ it was decided that Rev. Cesar take over all the responsibility during the fol¬ lowing 5 years. Miss Kolb accepted the invitation of the president of__ Mackenzie College to assume the direction of the Escola An'.ericana in Sao Paulo. On the 4th of Dec., 1934, Dr. R. F. Leningtcn, attorney of the _ Board in Hew York, turned over the Mission property to Rev. Cesar eind in March 1935 the Ginasic Belmiro Cesar was founded. It is his desire to carry on the glorious traditions of the Escola Areericana of Curityba.
In 1895, the Rev. & Mrs. George Bickerstaph joined the ranks, studying the language in Curityba, later going to Castro, which was lunder tiie care of the pastor. Rev. G. A. Landes, living in Curityba. A church building was dedicated in 1897. Mr. Bickerstaph had 25 preaching points outside of Castro at one time, scattered from. Xanxere on the South to- Faxina on tloe Horth. The coming of the railroad allowed them to reopen v/ork in ponta Gressa - this v;ork having been opened by • Landes.
In 1896 tTr. & Mrs. R. F. Lenington - 2nd generation missicnaries - established their homn in Guarapuava, travelling far and Vi/ide. And in 1906, Hr. & Mrs. Kolb, after 4 years in Santa Catharina, throw themselves into the work in Parana, first at penta Grossa and then in Guaraiouava.
For 15 years he gave him.self unstintingly to the evangelization of^the interior, getting up many times from, a sick-bed to ride 30 or 40 miles on horseback every day for weeks, with a preaching service e^^ery night. Schools in Guarapuava and Horro Alto, taught by_the±r willing and capable daughters, widened and deepened the influence of these lives. In 1921, returning from, his last journey, during which he had to be lifted from, his horse many times, Mr. Kolb laid dovmi the load which he had carried so faithfully for 37 years in Bahia, Sergipe, Rio de Janeiro, Santa Catharina and Parana, -and lies at rest on yonder "High Hill" of ponta Grossa, looking out over the State he so loved and sought to evangelize.
Ho new massionaries for 14 years - so ij. and I/irs. Ashjr.un Salley v/ere more than welcoir.e as they studied in Curityba for their first year and then v;ere sent to Santa Catharina.
Curityba was the place v/here all new m.issionarie s to the South were sent to get their first year of language study. The Escola Americana .knew them all. And in 1911, km. & Mrs. Hidkiff came for tiieir year there.
The Mission had long felt the need of a school where the children of uhe church could, along with their common school education, acquire som.c knowledge of m.odern methods of farm.ing, industry and hom.e -keeping. It v;as
6o
hoped that a v/ay could be provided for such to earn a part of their expenses while studyifig. The stress of the school would be on religious fundaiT.entals and the develoinnent of character, preparing pupils for workers in the churcho The Rev, G, A, Landes vras the principle proponent of the plan, but the IJission as a whole' was back of it, Mr, & lirs, Midkiff were chosen for this work. The history of the institution resembles somevi/hat the story of civilization. It began in the v;oods in the most primitive imanner, and worked its v/ay up ’under different directors, until it embraces and utilizes somie of the comi’orts which science has furnished for the health and com.fort of man. Land was chosen about 4 males from. Castro and about $7000 from, the Kennedy Fund went into the land and h^rd of cattle, Tuo young m.en came and wanted to work and study at night, and a carpenter offered his services to teach them, and the director, v/lio had never done anything like this before, how to raise the tim.bers and put on the roof of the brick building. The story of the Instituto Christao is one of struggle and hard v/ork, but the 14 years of the services of Ur, & Mrs,
Uldkiff, the nearly 'S' years of Mr. & tjrs. Wright, the 7. years of Mr. & lib’s, t^'ant, the 2 and a half years of Rev, & Mrs, Reasonor, and t'he 15 years of Miss Bessie Allen, together with the consecrated efforts of many Brazilian teachers, have been a record of glorious accom.plishment .
In Jan. 1915, the work of the school began v/ith a Lay-v/orkers Convention. Since one of the ends of the school was the training of laym.en it v/as fitting that the school be opened in this way. Mr, Lenington very kindly ana ably ca.m.o to help v/ith this first Convention, and it is interest¬ ing to note that this last year, 1G36, ho assisted at the sam.o Convention, which becam.e an annual event and has aided greatly in making the Instituto Christao the spiritual home for many. Immediately following the Convention, school started with an attendance of 8 pupils - all boys. Miss Maud Landes was the first teacher from, the outside.
The Instituto has had a far-reaching influence in the transform.aticn of the liv'es of ydung m.en and v/om.on, and in the vision of service which has led m.any of its students to the m.inistry and to other paths of loving endeavor. One exaieple is that of the Rev, Rodclpho Anders, the efficient secretary of the National Sunday School Union, The son of a poor immigrant shoG-.m.aker , his only chance at an education cam.e through the Instituto, He has nationalized the Sunday Sc'nocl literature of Brazil, and in general is making a notable contribution to its c'nurch life. He was the delegate to the v/orld's Sunday Sc'liocl Convention in Oslo and a m.cm.bor of its Council.
Twelve students of the Institute have so far (1937) entered the .ministry.
Santa Gatharina .
A sm.all wave struck Santa Gatharina once or twice before 1896 through the Rev, A. L, Blackford, of our Mission, as agent of the Arr.orican Bible Society, and by m.inistors going back and forth from. Ric Grande do Sul, but we have no authentic record of what they did. The first souls won to Christ in the Stateg.verG by the ins trum.entality of one Joao da Cruz Salva¬ dor, v/hc lived in Sac Francisco. Ho v/as a captain of sailing vessels, and on -his trips to Ric de Janeiro attended some of the m.eetings in the Presby¬ terian Church, He also obtained a Bible whic'n ho read on his long trips, Wiion finally he decided to give up the sea and settle in Sac Francisco, he was a truly Christian .m.an. Hearing of the work in Gurityba, he wrote to
7.
the ReVo Go A« Landes, who visited Sac Francisco in 1896, reccivirig 7 believers into the churcho In 1897 Mr. Leningtcn caire and received 4 rr.ore , one of v;hcm married a Philippine sailor who landed there. Their son is nov; a minister in the Independent Presbyterian ChLirch.
In 1898 the first established work was founded in Floriancpolis , by the Rev. J. B. Rodgers, v/hc was soon transferred to the Philipx^ines , the first missionary of the Presbyterian Church to the islands.
Rev. and Mrs. R. F. Leningtcn v;erc brought from Guarapuava to talce up the work, which, as it grew, produced, as alv/ays, opposition. The vicar,
Rev. Padre Topp. urged the people not to attend the services, as a false Bible was used. Ii!r. Leningtcn took his pulpit Bible to the editor of the official nev/spaper of the State, and, through it, challenged padre Topp oo bring the true Bible, to appoint a committee of judges of the Supremo Court, lawyers and professors of the higher institutions of learning, to prove his assertion. This he utterly refused tc do. Such an act and the utterly dissolute life of the vicar turned m.any people tc the study of the Bible .
Rev. G. A. Landes m.ade Santa Catharlna his third field in Brazil.
Shortly afterwards he v;as joined by Mr. & Mrs. Salley. They were enabled tc put up the large and convenient church building in Floriancpolis .
From Floriancpolis the work began tc spread at once into the surround¬ ing tov/ns, Sao Jose, Palhcga, Biguassii. And off and on Mr. Leningtcn went by muleback, accompanying a trc.pa, taking as m.uch as tv/elve days at a tim.e tc cover the 267 kilom.eters to Lages. The Masc^ns there arranged the theatre for the first meeting, and on other occasions granted the use_ of their cwn hall. Mr. Leningtcn also penetrated into Sac Joaquim., Tubarao and Laguna.
Then the Salleys v/ere stationed in Lages for 2 years and the Bickerstaphe for 12 yccars. All their travelling for the first nine years v/as on horse¬ back, and then they had their au mo . Their field v/as m.ore limited than at Casurc because travel was far m.ore expensive. Guides, ent er tainm.ent and extra horses, which wore generally furnished with hearty good vhll in Parana, had tc be paid for in cash in Santa Catharina. Eighteen cut- stations were visited v/ith regularity, but the field covered ;vas cncrm.cus - tc Herval, Xanxere and Palm.as, alm.ost tc the western border of the State.
From. Lages they took up work in Rio Capinzal v/here a church was organized in 1964, Having reached the age of retirem.ent, they returned tc the United States, leaving an adopted daughter in Rio Capinzal who has been faithful tc her training, and behind them, a trail of loving m.em.cry of Sr. Jorge and D. Josephina.
In 1928, Mr. & Mrs. Mldkiff were sent from, the Institute Christao to Lages, itinerating over the vast field until their furlough in 1931,
Mrs. Midkiff died in the States in April, 1931, Mr, Midkiff rcm.ained for study until June, 1932, when he rem.arried and returned with his bride to Lages .
During this time Id’, J Ivrs, Wright substituted in Lages and started a small school, which it was hoped m.ight later be moved to another location, and become a second Institute Christao, For miany reasons this has never been possible. Am the Mission meeting of 193 2, Fir. & Ivies, Y/right were allov/ed tc choose their cvm field in Santa Catharina.. They m.cved to Herval,
8
from i/;hicri point tov/ns along the railroad, and Xanxord to the west cared for,, Their fine work was sadly interrupted v/hcn tliey had to to the States because of Lr, V/right's health. It is
expect to welcome
■choir, back in npril, 1937,
5 v/ero return v/ith j oy that we
By this rreve of the ^/rights the huge field of Ivir. & lirs. Bickerstaph was divided, v/ith the V/rights taking the west and -the Midkiffs r.;rr.aining in Lagos and working in Curitybancs, Bo.m. Retire and Rit do Sul, and in v/'::at is knovrn as the German field to the east. It is a work made neces¬ sary because many of the younger generation of the Gorman Evangelical Church no longer understand Germnn and are rapidly drifting away from the church. The Lidkiffs are now covering 35 preaching points. In Lagos a Community house has boon serving as church, school, pastor's residence and re-creation hall. On January 24th a church building was dedicated by lir. Leningtc'n, the first missionary to penetrate to this strategic center - strategic because the seat of the bishopric - and a most difficult place.
rUi interesting application of the Gospel was m.ade in the county of Curitybancs, whose outlaw spirit afforded refuge for many criminals .flee¬ ing from, justice. It was a region of intense fcair.ily and political feuds, and shootings on sight v/ere frequent. For instance, at one festival in honor of the Holy Spirit, 34 children v/ere .made orphans, and several people were v/cunded* V/coden crosses along the roads and trails .marked where travellers had been shot from a.mbush. Many houses displayed ragged bullet holes. The State Government once sent a committee to settle a political feud, .-'i.t another time it sent in troops when the mayor had to dig protecting trenches. But all to no avail.
,fi, lawyer called the missionary's attention to this deplorable situa¬ tion in which 127 peace-loving persons had left the tcvni within a month in order to escape its dangers. The missionary took up the challenge, preaching on the text: "Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil v/ith good." The people responded to this appeal, and a ranchman v/hc had never heard the Gospel came with pack mules to take the missionary and his wife •on a trip into uhe interior. The news and influence spread. On several occasions the dancing at religious festivals stopped so that they .might hoar the gospel of pc-ace and forgiveness. A "Peace-m.akers League" v/as for’med, and many pledged themselves to quit carrying fire-arms, and to practice the teachings of the Gospel. Old feuds v/ere settled. A new spirit has corn over Curitybancs.
and
ian
call
furl
Santa Catharina has already given five m.en^tc the ^Gcspcl^ ministry others arc in training. The church in Florianopolis has nad a Brazil- pastor for many years and it is the hope of the Lagos congregation to a Brazilian pastor when the present missionary goes on his next cugh.
Matto Grosso .
/in other v/ave reached the State of tditto Grosso.
Near the end of -the 19th century, a m.inister nam.ed Jam.es Price began work in Cuyaba, iViatto Grosso. Vlnence he came, exactly how long he stayed, and the reason for his departure are not knovwi. Evidently he was a man of fine Christian character and of culture, for he m.ade friends with prominent
9.
English nissionaries and colporteurs and the Evangelical Union worked there for a tirr.e„ One, an ijr.erican Presbyterian, nan.ed Morris Bernard, left Guyaba about 1912. Mot knowing that any work
Matto Grosso, that State so large and so far in the Brazil Mission at its rneet.inc*- nn Pnnto Mova in 1912,
had ever interior
Be rnard , been done in , the Central
resolved to send the Rev. Franklin .. ^raham on a toiu ^ oi exploration across Goyaz and Matto Grosso. He set out early _ in l^iS with a young student just graduated from Ponte Meva, ^intonio dos cantos, now a minister in the State of Sergipc .
cr
On Oct
Sr. Joao Pedro Diaj
14, _ 1913, he arrived in Cuyabd, and went to the home of
telt^tlie missionary's comang was an ansu-er to long
-P+ov, o ^ ,1 J.-L. . . - - J O Wdto cUi aniiwei' uo
then w*qtwf^a tn continued south-westward to Pocone,
DiaSanti^^ q. a northeast to Barra dos Bugres and
Jiamanti.-a, thenoe southward uo Rosario and Guyaba v/herc Christmas of
191B was spent. Early in 1914 a little excursion to the Chapada Ld
^rity ^’^-a^GjOn the course of which a Sunday was spent at a farm, called
The missionary v/as to keep the Mission inform.ed as to his discoveries and was also uo determ.ine, on the basis of those, which of the two ficMs
dil?v of occupied first. A quotation from his ’
a y of Jo... 185 lcl3 indicates what the choice was. '‘God has answered our prayers _in preparing the way before us, in raising u^ friendr?or Ms c use, and in keeping us well and safe from. harm.. Matto Grosso, the name that carried so m.uch that is new and strange v/hen heard at a distance,
_s m.uch further advanced in many respects than I could have imagined. Liberty of worship is a lav/ recognized and obeyed. There has been no persecution. Many of the inhabitants are the m.ost energetic that the
produced, and they have com.e here with progressive succeed. For many leagues around the c.r-pital (Cuyaoa) it is thickly settled. The Bible is well distributed in me region, the per ■ - -
greater than that in Goyaz
’cent age and
of those v/ho can read and write is m.uch
interior Bahia, and their interest in, and
aesire for, educat:' on, is greater. These things have led to the firm, conviction that Matto Grosso should be the first field occupied by our Mission." ns soon as this v/as telegraphed to the Mission, a return teiegrair. said that since Matto Grosso was to be the first field occupied,
lioerty to stay and occupy it. He started to occupy the vast_State in Guyaba, ana on Mov. 1, 1914 eight adults were baptized Ld i-ceived on profession of faith. On Mov. 10th, Mr. Graham returned to pahia to attend Mission meeting and the Rev, Philip Landes v/as transferred .-0 the oouth Brazil Mission, under v/hose jurisdiction Matto Grosso v/as placed, and sent to Guyab?i. The church there was organized and two elders peotp on oot. la, 1920. The corner stone of the church buildlnc war laid in 1921 and in July of 1924 the church v/as dedicated free of'"debt. i/nire I;ir. & ins. Landes v/ere on furlough, the Rev. and Iv2rs . ... J. Martin took over uhe work, later going to the school at .Burity. In 1929 the Guyaba Ghurch called a national pastor, and continued under two national pastors until Feb. of 1934, when it becam.e aaecossary for the Mission to take over the cnurch again on account of a division v/hich had occurred in los midSb. Through in. Landes' efforts of two m.cre years the church became on..d li.cre united and a Braz ilian pastor has been efficiently carr^/'ing on.
In 1918 Mr. & Mrs a suitable place for a
iartin _ were _ designated by the Mission to lock school in this field, and Burity, a fazenda of
for
24
10.
square miles, about 40 imiles from Cuyaba, v;as purchased for $4000.. Houses already on the place were repaired and added to, to serve as boys' dorm^- itory and school, and another for the girls' dormitory and a hoime for the miissicnary famdly. Wt & tlrs. H. 0. Moser occupied this in 1923 as the ^.erican teachers with L'lr. j-i. J. Martin as director and Sr. Augusto d-e Araujo (nov/ the pastor of the Cuyaba Church) as the Portuguese teacher.
The school opened with 7 pupils. Now it has over 40 and has been_a great help in the evang'elizatich of the community, under the directorship of Mr. & Mrs. Moser and Miss Annie Hastings, w c came out to take charge of the girls and teach Domestic Science, as v;ell as some other subjects. _ A nev(/ girls' dormitory now houses the ^rls, Miss Hastings and the missionary family. A distinctively religious atm.osphere has been the aim^ of the school ever since its conception. There have been Sunday School ^ and ^Church on Sundays, and C. E. on Wednesdays. An annual Laym^en's Convention is held sometime diuring each year, and has been' a great help to many believers, inspiring themx to better things. Mr. & Mrs. Moser have brought to it m^ost genial personalities, training, and a great desire to serve, and are trying to make it a beacon light in the "sertao" of Matto Grosso,
Gold, oil and diamonds are just so many different doors by which great new zones are peopled. Quito often the door becomas of little im.pcrtanc8 , but no Canute can stop th-e human tide or obliterate the trails from all parts of Brazil that lead to Matte Grosso. The Mission Group at Burity and Cuyaba realized that they were thinking of the beyond - the diamond zone - and in April of 1927 the Rev. and Hilcs. Harper and Rev. i-i.. J. fiartin started on a survey t4ip from. Burity. They stayed for a few days at Rohdenepolis as guests of Mr. & iirs. Thomas of the Inland Couth .ur.erica Missionary Union. They visited a regular Bororo Indian village. Before,, fording a stream, called Benito, they had a delightful visit ^with a Goyaz f,air.ily which was settled in the new district. The old patriarch, with rosy cheeks and long white beard, was a joy to behold. This famdly has been interested in the Gospel ever since. On the other side of the stream, was another house where they m.et Sr, Brutus, who was going to Lageado to start a school financed by Mr, Thoimas. It is strange to think that Benito, throwing rapidlv, new using that sam.c stream for electric power and priding itself on its growth, was only 2 huts in 1927, nc one thinking of it as a site for a tov/n. Santa Rita Vi/as then the political and commercial center of the district. They vjerc well received there by all and meetings v;ell attended. Turning westward, they visited Lageado, which was fast becom.ing the center cf the zone. There they found a large fam.ily of believers from^ Araguary, In the State of Minas. Some of them, had never had pastoral care and all had been away from. Christian influence for some tim.e . Their condition was most deplorable. But they were believers, and_were anxious that others should hear the m.essage. That constituted the first opening of the Lageado field.
The next trip cf iiipjcrtance was when Mr. Martin went in with Mrs. Martin. They made tlie Ford groan with organ, gasoline, baggage, three children and Elias, a young Brazilian convert. They gave ^m.cst ^ of their effort to Lageado and tried to interest the young people ih going to school at Burity. The curve in Lageado, although slight, ^as upward in Christian living.
The location of Mr. & Mrs. Salley in the district, and their residence in Santa Rita was a splendid thing for the work. In 1932 the Poxoreu sppi ct definitely becam.e a part of the Vi/ork and nev/ i uS m.any groups of diggers .offers quite a field. Poxoreu is 45 leagues by auto road and 23
11.
leaguec by saddle trail froiu Lageado„
The church in Lageadc v;as organized in 1932 by E/iTc Martin, vi^ho returned alone from furlough, as Mrs. Martin passed away while in the States.^ The ^ church Duilding v/as com^pleted tliat year, without the financial aid of the Mission or the missionary, and never incurred debt. This last year it hired an ^ evangelist, Sr. Jose Gomnz. although he is not looking forward tc^the ministry, he has shown capacity as a colportuer and is liked by the believers. It is the hope of the Lageado church to call a pastor in 1937, leaving Mr. Martin free to cover his vast field.
Vi/’e give an. account of the beginnings of the work in Rosario Oeste in tl:e missionary's own v/ordsj
'•v/hen I first visited Rosario Oeste, I went about inviting the people of the town to an evening miSeting, to be held in a hall v;hich 1 had rented.
1 had a big crowd ^ that first night, ^n old colored lady who sat up in front attracted my Special attention because of her rapt interest, .^fter the maeting 'v/as over I inquired about her. "Do you knov/ who she is?", m.y in- form.ant asked, "She is the m.ost religicus person in tovm. It is she v;ho takes care of things of the priest in the Catholic Church. Her hom.e is full of images and she is the m.ost religious soul in tov/n." I made a call on Maria Paula, for that was her nam.e. I well rem.em.ber entering her little front room, and noticing her oratory full of im.ages at one end of the room and the walls covered with pictures of the saints. I sat dovrni beside her and read to her from iry New Testament. I explained to her the meaning of the Lord's Prayer and hew we may approach cur Heavenly Father directly 'without any intermediaries but Christ himself. I spoke to her of Jesus and of his love for sinners, citing John 3s 16 "For God sc loved the world tliat he gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him .should not perish but have everlasting lifr." ,^s I spoke to her of God's love, she turned^tc m.e and said, with great feelings "I 'would not be any happier today if you had given mn um. conto de reis". It was the biggest sum of money of which she liad any conception. And then she said scm.ething m.cre that was very significants "I have never had a desire to learn to read until today, but now I am going to leara. " She called in the public school teacher, a young m.an at v/hose birth she had assisted, and required of him. a prim.er and som.e lessons in reading. But m.ost of her lessons v/ere learned from, her own grand daughter, her text book being a large New Testam.ent with large type. She loves to tell hew she learned to read, spelling out each v/ord with great care and patience. She would take the New Testament into the kitchen -with her, and v/hile she was working, looking on her beloved NGv>/ Testamicnt open before her. If som.eone happened to com.e in v;ho know how to read she v/ould ask them, to tell her what som.e word was that happened to be difficult, njid so she learned to read, and to read well. She used to take pride in standing up in the Congregational prayer m.eetings to read the words of Jesus from, her Now Testam.ent. Her experience can be duplicated in mnny other lives all over B^-azil, It confirm.s the truth of the text;
"The entrance of Thy -words giveth light."
There are actually 64 adult mLemNers on the roll. The church owns n large building which is adequate for all the services, and which also serves ^as a residence for an evangelist. The Sunday School and the Christian Endeavor Societies are active organizations, and the future is full of prcm.isG for the extension of Christ's kingdom, in all the region round about. "
The v.’crk in Carr.pc Gnanle, in southern Matte Grosso, v/as begun on Jul^/ SGth, 1934, 'vvith the erganizatien of a 3«3o by MTo Landes on his way tlircugh that tcv/n» Toward the end of that year, Mr. Landes returned to Campc Grj nde and opened regular preaching services in a rented hall, and in 1935 moved his family there. That year the Presbyterian Church of Campc Grande was organized, with 58 professed mom.bors, 2 elders and 3 deacons. 3inco its organization the church has put up 2 chapels, one in the center of tc^m and cn^^ in the m.ilitary quarter of the city. The church has just called a national pastor, recently cut from, the oom.inary at Campinas, who took charge of the Church early in 1937.
The start in Goyaz .
iiiiother wave let started through the 3tate of Goyaz.
During the first decade of the 20th Century an itinerating missionary of the Central Brazil Mission, Rev. V/. E. Finley, made trips from* the ^ otate of Bahia into the State of Goyaz. He visited mnny of the principal places in v/hat now com.prises our Central Goyaz Field. He carried a m*agic lantern to help attract people to the m.eetings where he preached the Gospel and instructed them, in Bible truths.
Even before Mr. Finley's prips, the southern part of the field was visited once by the Rev. John Boyle of the Presbyterian Church South.
That church had v;crk in Santa Luzia and other places in s outheasuern Goyas. Mr. Boyle cam.e in as far as Form.osa, and probably visited Planal- tina, then knov/n as Mestre d 'Armas.
V;hen in 1913 the Rev. Franklin Fi Graham., the present .m.issionary, v/ho had been sent by the Central Brazil .;iission on an exploring trip across Brazil, arrived at the first point in Goyaz, Sitio d'.Jobadia, he found six Icrge leather-bound Bibles - all that were left of a box of Bibles and New Testaments which Mr. Finley had left years before. Un¬ fortunately the books had been destroyed by school children instead of falling into appreciative hands.
The m.issionary in the sam.e year (1913) visited Posse, Sao Dom.irgos, -irrayas, Gavalcante, and iilta Mir, as tlie present Planaltina was at that time called.
Out of Cavalcante about ten leagues southward, is Veadeiros on the plateau called Chapada dos Veadeiros. The m.issionary found enchantm.ent in this region and, reported to his Mission that it v/ould oe a delightful and well-located place for a Mission Station.
On his second trip into Goyaz, __in 1916, he tried, though was not successful, to buy a farm, called Sao Bento. In follov/ing year s^ an effort was m.ade to possess tliis farm., but it could not be bought with the funds at the disposal of the missionary.
Itinerating v/as done in 1919, 1920 and 1921. Then in 1922 ijr* .
Graham, moved onto the field establishing residence at Planaltina. An autom.obile road connected this place with the railroad nearly 200 miles distant, and there was .mail service every five days admirable for that region at that ti.m.o. It is the schedule up to the present tim.c (1936).
13.
On i,hese long itinerating trips on r.uie oacK tne mss xunai-^' v/as far fi'om medical resources and had to carry his ovm supply of medicine. He had been taught seme of the sim.plost and most effective rem.odies for som^ ^ of the most coinr.on diseases. V/ith the blessing of God^these simple remedies were often used in what really seem.ed mdraculous v/ays for the healing^ of
at Galheiro, near Sao Dom.ingos, who had gone blind v/ith a ’ face, had the sore healed and sight restoredo zi m.an at Sao Dom.ingos who could only go about on hands and knees was made to walk. Hundreds of children and adults were cured of hookworm*, in the first years by the use of thymol, lat^r by chenipodium. Still later a multitude of .more or less efficient rem.edies already prepared appeared on the miarket and relieved this part of the missionary's m.edical service, sulphate of quinine for m.alaria had to be kept always on hand.
people, great sore
woman on hei
The first professions of faith on the field were in ^irrayas in 1921 when tv/o old m.en professed their faith. One died soon after and the other gave his testimony weakly and v/ith fear. In Planaltina the first profes¬ sions V'/ere made in 1922. rvmongst there first was an old couple with chil'.iren, grand children, and great grand children, som.e of whom, came with them into the church. For a tim.o prospects were very bright for a good growth of the kingdom of Christ in that place. Disaster happened ^ when a ^nung student who had com.e mth the missionary from. Gaetete, Bahia, in 1922 and had taken part in the preaching, fell into sin and brought scandal to the caiiso. He continues unrepentant to this day.
For ton years the m.eetings were in the front room, of the house v/here the m.issionary lived during the first three years. In 1932 the congregat¬ ion was able to buy a property vith a house in construction, ^ remodel the house and thus possess alm.ost vi/ithout debt (the debt was entirely paid v;ithin two years) quarters for divine worship, Sunday School and day school.
In 1924 the Mission bought a property near planaltina for the purpose of opening a "Kuldee" Station with a farm, school, etc., but this school could not be opened at once and later was opened as a day-school in Planaltina,
Planaltina and parts of the field were visited by Dr. It .i. 'Jaddell in 1921 and 1924, by Dr, H. ?. Lenington in 1924. In 1932 and 1933 Rev. Philip Landes .made extensive itinerating trips.
In 1926 Rev. D. T. Reasoner, a m.inister with an agricultural tram- ing, WiiGSG wife is a trained nurse, arrived on the field. Tliey helped with the -work for a num.ber of years, founding in 1929 the "Collegio Evango lico Planaltinonso " .
In 1929 the young mnss ionary, Rev Graham, going north via Cavalcantc , south via Descobertc , j-ur.aro Leite and
. R. E. Good made a long trip v;ith i^rrayas , Palm.a, to Peixe, then Sao Jose do Tocantins to Planaltina
In 1931 Dr, and Mrs. Kenneth. C, V/addell toured the field and eapilored the north as far as Porto Nacional and Hatividade .
In 1928, fifteen years after the first visit to Gavalcante, occurred the first professions of faith in that place. In 1934 an evangelical school was founded there.
The congregation in Planaltina was organized as an incorporated body in 1934.
14,
j-iG the v/ork x^rcgressed "lore riid mere, it seemed best to vnev 2 the Salleys from Matte Grosso to Goyaz, Hence in May of 1931 they rr.cved from St'ic Rita to Jatahy, in Goyaz, making that the center of their long horse¬ back trips, som.e times of three months duration,
Ihe Gospel had been brought into this region by a copy of sji old Bible falling into the hands of an old negro pack-train driver, given to him. by a friend, who thought the bock v^ras a copy of the criminal laws, to vh lie away the time while sick. He found later a colporteur who explained to him v;hat the bock really was. The old man, his wife and a neighboring couple were converted and from. them, the Gospel spread out into other ccm.- m.unities. Ministers of the Independent Presbyterian Church, of the Evangelical Union, teachers of the Presbyterian Church and m.emibers of the Pentecostal Church visited the field and helped keep alive the interest already started,
Mr, Salley v;as able to make such arrangemients with the various churches that ho today is the pastor of the whole region and the v/erk spreads further and further. The Salleys have had the privilege of naving’ lived in -m.any places, thus com.ing to knew the work of the Mission from. Flcriancpolis and Lages in Sta. Catiiarina, to Mackenzie College in Sac panic, and now on into Ivlittc Grosso and Goyaz. Doubtless som.e of the gneat success of their work has been because of the influence of three m.en, of v/h^m. I.ns , Salley writes so sym.pathetically as follows; “What an experience it v/as to learn how to v«rk under three such splendid teachers as John Kclb, George Landes and Fred Lenlngtcn, They never knew that they showed us hcv; to love, to build and to preach.
Quietly, each da;^G Kolb visited his people, putting into his
coat pocket his small Now Testam.ent and hymmibook, he went into hcm.e after hoxm.e. The children cam.e crowding around him., laughing and talking. Then as naturally as the sun ibises, id’. Kolb would say, “Hov; shall we sing and shall I read?" Such a feeling of peace cair.e over those hum.ble roomxS as he sang and told the ever new Story, Hearts were lifted v;ith voices. Love of God was there and love toe for that m.an who took Christ v/ith hl.m. from, house to house and from, village to village.
Rev, George Landes was a builder, net with bricks and stone but of life m.cre abundant. He simply could not endure careless living and was tireless in his efforts to help the people. How we love to rem.om.bcr him. as in his later years he drove behind his lively horse, going from, town to tov/n, white hair shining, face abeam. He talked constantly of plows, of planting trees and gardens, of each m.an earning his own living, of a church built by men who earned it. He dream.ed of self-help schools, and of young people returning to nev; ways of living. He was capable, he was efficient and he was a lovely person.
Then Fred Lenington, so full of fun and life. His feet fairly seem.ed to fly over the ground, as,u.mbrella swinging from, his arm., he hurried from, place to place. To v/atch him. being a pastor was a lesson on “How to be a pastor". He alv/ays had tim.e to stop in and call a cheery “Good Morning" tc L'iss Dasccm.b and Miss Kuhl,^ to run over and see what the new m.issicn- arics v/anted, to stop a few m.cm.ents at the coffee house to visit v;ith a Brazilian friend, tc encourage here a boy and tc ccm.fort there a m.cther. This quality of friendship together with the earnest evangelistic sorm.cns, the strong, sweet voice leading congregational singing, the friendly
15.
handsh-ke and tka ringing laugh, all v/ent together to malce up that "Snr, Frcdericc" sc ir.uch lo-'^ed by all v/hc knew hiir.. "
In 1936 Dr. D. C- Gordon and family chose Rio Verde as their head¬ quarters and have already started a hospital, the first medical Unit in South Brazil.
Seme side-lights ,
It is mostly v/ith laconic remarks that individual mhssicnaries have told of the Vv'crk -as it vvas started and has grown in their fields, bur they tell nothing of the struggle v/ith vi/hich these results v;cre attained.
Alley/ a young (net in ago but in years on the field) missionary to... tell you scm.e of that, as she has gathered bits here and there, ^lisuoning^ to conversations and putting them together as patches in a quilt - a quilt y/hich represents courage in its brightest colors, made the more brilliant because each bit v/as told as an adventure, or as an acceptance of life as it came, with a radiant faith that all must be right.
1. Many years ago one wife went running to the door crying and laughing at tiie so^me time when she hoard her husband com.e riding up on nis horse. ViHiy? Because some weeks before her husband had been arrested and led off for trial by a warrant sworn out by the Catholic priest because the m.issionary had performed a v/edding ceremony betv;een ncn-Cathclics and chided by their relatives, they declared they had made no stateirent that they were nou Catholics, although they had signed in the mdssicnary's log bock a stateiT.ent to that effect. Since he had been led away not c ne v/ord had been received by the wife, all messages from her husband, his lawyer or any friend having been intercepted.
2. In
the revolution of 193C, one of the honorably-retired wives,
v7h,:,se husband had given sc many years to service
years uc service, los o dishes, silver bedding and clothing - all the things dear
tell it, it v/asn't a cal.amity, just an act oi rre viuenee , f.u in the faith which makes her at SO one of our most beloved friends
lost u-j-aii'-o, o.Lxv'-x ,
every woman - but to hear her providence, and to be a.ccopted
3. x-ifter only a few home-sick mnnths, one of tlic older mhssionarios and his wife came out to visit us and I spoke of how good it v/as to see som-conc who could speak English and the lady said "Can you imngine what it would be like to be eleven years in this very town, yes, part of it in
this very house, wiuheut seeing one person who could speak
Cnglish?
4. Some of us have m.cre fear of snakes tjian others. x\.nd it was one of these who had her first m.issionary years wheru there wore ^ at least as many as in a hay field in the good old U.oo.1.0 , but she has ±ivcd tin ough these years and has left her mnrk on the mnny girls v/hc_ lived in her hom.e learning how to go out and make real hom.es in the interior.
5. Is it any wonder that there is a far-away look in the eyes of one who m.any years ago cam.e back from, burying her tiny baby ^while her husband v/as away on an itinerating trip, only to find the m.ilk they had so hoped might come from. Sac Paulo in time lying on tiie door step?
.xt a party in 3ao Paulo just this summer.
I heard one of them.
6.
16.
v*o for ir.any years has lived Eost of her life on horseback, and li’. Ing a life whicii to me seems almost unbearably hard, ^say, after tellins love
tViEoi 1 liiTO: a"T.d. ia'borsst.irig ’.way of on© of lior “trips 5 'Don i/ pi"t,Y i** '
it I Anrin trso rnac^ thlt is good." This after someone began to say how
terrible it was.
7. A little grave in the arid again tiie husband Y/as away
cemeterv here tells of another mother's struggle
8. '"#ell vou know how hard it is to get houses in your town, and fa un in the interior of Llatto Grosso it is even harder. We hunted and h.
and finally found one with the brick floor so ^ bright took days of digging to get it all out. Then v/e painted the f
ue, also did a lot of other painting and believe me it Y/as a p_ erty p • I v/ovild not give anything for the experiences of those years - what they did
b
for TTB in understanding the homes from, which our pupils
now com.e
II
9,
If you knev; that he pry 5 but it m.ight take the' mission to go, upon return from furlough
a year's furlough was just ahead a bit of the edge off of that joy
it Y/ould m.ake one ^ ^ to be assigned by interior 15 days by
into the
miul^ back from the nearest missionary family. No sign of anything save the thought that they might be able to m.ake the load a little less heavy ±or ^ne othie? missionary seem.ed to enter their minds, although they have Jiroe children to consider. We are all hoping that in the intervening time, an auto road m.ay rnnke the distance much less and thus mnke this m.o a bit less anxious.
10. In order to m.ake the trip a bit easier for her husbmd by having companionship, and in order to help in m.any ways, one mother bundled her
four children, the youngest a m.ere baby, on horses,
qeveral Y/eeks' trip. Vihile I was not tnere to see, I kno\"/ thut
each child coul^i easily find their night clothes and would fold their day c-oth2 nLSy by the bed wherever that bed happened to be. Tnis I do know
from, what I have seen
That is a trick even in civilization, but i.i the
interior of Brazil^ ana traveling on horseback^ well
! 1 t
1. "I feel tha.t for ine good of m.y soul, I just m.ust get out ^f or
Mission m.eeting, take whatever effort it mn:,u"_ In Vdays
rows is ted of bringing four children one nay's journo^ by truck, 5 or ^ aays orrsl ow ?ivcr b?att and three days by train. Once it was necessary; to go by truck to the railroad. It took alm.ost 2 v/eeks and they had .0 swing their hammocks every night ’under the trees.
These are only a vvife a real helpm.ate, m.uch v/o mdght say , but
iew of the many And as 1 or the v/ill let certain characteristics
incidents that make a missionary's m.issionaries them.selves, there is so
speak for them.selves.
: sm.an ^
Arronm the ranks at the present tim.e , v/e find the m.iss ionary stat _ the one v*o especiallv is secretarlally minded, the one ivhose mind especially
ahls' in fine details", the evengellstle oratory the accountant-^^^^^^
especially youfh, doctor
thoughtful one 5 the the Good Samaritan, the the Y/itty Greatheart.
d
sveloper^ the lovaDle pastor 5 the
they are all filled with the one passion
lover of
efficient
But there is one thing that describes themi all -- the evangelization of Brazil,
jovial, wnole-souled one', our m.odest
17.
ResiOT.6 of the History .
Thus the ’vavos, , starting from the im.pact of the first m.issi onarie s 5 have widened our all over Brazil, until there is only one State in tiee Repuhlic v/hich has no Presbyterian Church, tliat of Rio Grande do Sul, which was ceded to the m.iss ionary work of the Episcopal Church South, a Comity agreement which has been scrupulously respected by the mdssionar io s . But in all the other States there is prosperous V7ork, so prosperous in fact that it is impossible for the National Church to care for it all.
In 1888 the Presbyterian Church of Brazil was organized, 1/3 Brazilian rr.inisters, 1/3 mhssionaries of the Pres. Church in the U.S.A., and 1/3 m.issi onaries of the Pres. Church in the U.S. It has today 1 General Assen:bly ,mnetlng every two years, 3 Syiiods, which ne et on the alternate years, and IS Presbyteries. This is the first daughter church of the Presbyterian churches in the States. It has tv;o Theological Sem.inaries, one in the North and another in the South, having about 50 students, has a m.iss ionary v;hom. it supports in Portugal 5. a m.issionary among the Indians in Platto Grosso, and has a large share in cooperative 77ork for lepers, tuberculosi patients and other hospital enterprises.
The Presbyterian Church of Brazil (its official title) has today (1936), 168 ministers, 261 churches, with hundreds of preaching points, 41028 mc.mbers, 2825 of whom* v/ere added during the last year, 871 Sunday-schools, with 50250 scholars.
The Independent Presbyterian Chur^'ch, which split off from, the presbyteria Giurch in 1903, has today 43 m.inisters, 130 churches, with also hundreds of preaching points, 13600 mem.bers, of v^horr* 980 were added during the last year, 170 Sunday-schools, with 12100 scholars.
Uniting these tv/o Presbyterian churches, for they both are the result of the m.issionary work of the Presbyterian Churches in the States, there is a Presbyterian force in Brazil of 211 m.inisters with 391 churches and a communicant miCm.bership of 54628, 1041 Sunday-schools, v/ith 62350 scholars.
Thera are also 42 m.issionarie s of the Pres. Church North and 39 m.ission- aries of the Pres. Church, South. These are engaged in evangelistic work on the frontiers, m.edical and educational work. Only two m.issionarios arc in the Councils of the Brazilian Church and hence the latter are both "self-propagating, self-supporting and self-governing" churches, the ideal of all real .m.issionary v/erk. God has set His seal abundantly on all the work and to Him. shall ever be the praise, lay He abundantly bless His Church in all her great enterprises.
Educational v7ork of the South Brazil Mission .
Sim.onton saw at onco that ignorance was the handm.aid of the Church which held in thraldom, the people of Brazil. Hence he bestirred hlm.self to establish schools, and in 1861 his wn brother Jamies cam.e to Brazil to open schools. Olio Y/as established at Vasscuras the s.amie year, in the State of Rio, but its GxistencG was very short, closing in 1862.
In 1869, in his own hom.e in Cam.pinas, the Rev, Southern Pros, Church, established the first school the evangelical Church in Latin America. This later
G. Nash Morton, of the of higher learning of becam.G the Gollegio
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It ■-.■ixa in 1£7C that the first permanent educational work of our Mission v/as started 5 by I'itrs, G. Wo Chair.be r la in;> on the porch of her ovi/n hOime, near tlie present Lus Station, This met with such success that Dr, Chamberlain established the Escola nmericana, which is still in existence , and fromi v;hich came tlie Mackenzie College, in ISGO, the whole institution having in 1936 m.ore tlian 1700 pupils.
In 1892, Misses Kuhl and Dascomb founded in Curityba, State of Parana, the"Sscola Arr.ericana” , which contributed largely to the progress of the Gospel in that State, It still continues as the Gymnasio "Belmiiro Cesar", in m.emxory of the first Brazilian ordained in the north of Brazil, under the direction of his son, the Rev, Luiz A, L, Cesar, the pastor of the Curityba Church, being the first one of the educational institutions of the S,BoM» turned over to the direction of the Brazilian Church,
In 1894 the "Escola Am.ericana" of Bahia was started by Miss Laura Chair.be rla in, afterv/ards Ih’s, "W, A, V/addell, in the capital of that State, and after a long and chequered career, it is perpetuated in the "Gymnasio Airericano", begun in 1928, no v; having fine buildings of its ovm.
In 1904 an Escola Americana V'/as started in Florianopolis , Sta, Catha- rina, but only continued for a few years, in a/ lew of the founding of -^e modern public schools of that State, esuablished by a m.an who V'las trained in the public schools of Sao Paulo, for whose organization Dr, H, M, ^Lane , the director of our ovn "Escola An'.eri cana" , loaned the services of his Norm.al teacher, ?.:iss liarcia Browne, in v;hose honor the State Government gave the nam.e of "Escola Marcia Browne" to one of its ovm institutions. Thus our school system is being perpetuated in the progressive State of the South,
On Jan. 26th, 1906, the fam.ily of Dr, VJ. A. Waddell arrived at Ponte hova, a farm, on the Utinga , the only stream, in interior Bahia which never runs dry, and found that 15 minutes before them, there had arrived from as m.any directions six girls, v/hose parents had insisted on their living and studying with the V'/addell family. On Jan. 28th, school was started and continues to this day. It has been one of the m.cst productive educationally of the .Mission's institutions. At one time there were 50 schools _in Behia and surrounding States which v/ere taught by girls trained in the institution and from it have ccm.e .m.any of the .ministers of the Fresbyteri-an Church in northern Brazil and several in the south.
In 1915 there v/as realized in Castro, Parana, one of the long dream.s of Rev. G. A, Landes, the founding of a school, the Institute Christao, which should enable young people, who had not the means to pay for schooling, to get an education by working part timiS , Under almnst unsurm.ountable conditions. Rev, and trs, H, P.^Midlciff put the school on its fect_ and _ from it has gone a constant stream, of yoLing m.en and v/om.en who are contributing today t: the upbuilding of their country. Eight m.en are in the m.inistry of the Presbyterian Church of Brazil and one is the able secretary of the Sunday-school Lhion of Brazil, IVfessrs, Wright, Wyant and Reasoner have "carried on", and in 1937 the school is being turned _cver to the able direction of one of its own graduates, tlie Rev, Martinho Rickli,
an 1922 the kisslcn purchased In Matto Grosso, at Burlty, on the central table-land, a 24 sq.mile farm. It only cost $4000,00, including the two buildings cn^the place, so it is believed to be one of the largest and cheapest properties the Board has ever owned in any country. In July of 1923 a farir.-schccl was begun, with Rev, A. J. Martin as director and Iv^» & H^irs. Moser as the Arnerican teachers. Later the latter tc^'k complete ^largG ^d they^have carried on a school under almost unbelievable conditions The comnng of ^ Miss HOiStings strengthened the work and its influence is already reaching over into neighboring States. Several teachers have been prepared and young men are studying for the ministry in others of cur school.
In 1928 the ^ Mission started at Jandira, in the State of Sac Paulo, about an hour's journey fromi the Capital, an institution which has already had^m.cst far-reaching results, While miedical and law students, after finishing their ^ gymnasi umi ^ courses , had two years of propedeutic vi^ork before entering on their professional studies, the students for the miini stry of th^^ ^ Gospel had no such privilege and were thus placed in a disadvantageous position before their colleagues of professional training. Already the Rev. tettathias Gcmiss dcs Santos had seen a vision of such an institution for ministerial students. But it was left to Dr. V/. A. Jaddell to crown his educational efforts in Brazil, as shcv;n in Mackenzie College and Ponte Nova, by the founding of the Curse Universi tario "Jose Manoel da Ccnceicac", nam.ed after the first Brazilian ordained in Brazil, an ex-priest. This was to be a self-help institution. On Feo, 8th, 1928 it opened, with 3 teachers and 3 s oudents , 12 being m.atricula tod during the first year.
Uitil J/ferch of 1937 the matricula reached the total of 183, of whom 36 have been graduated, ^Already 11 have been ordained to the Gospel ministry and 16 are in the Seminaries. But the greatest contribution of the institution has been the deepening and widening of ministerial training in all^Brazil. Later ycung women were received into the institution for traiiiing as teachers for the Mission schools of the far interior and al¬ ready young people trained at the J.M. C., as popularly called, arc teaching at Burity, Ponte Nova, Castro and Cavalcante,
In 1929 an "Escola Evangelica" was started at Planaltina, in the State of Goyaz . it was planned that the school should be run with the samiG ideals as the schools of Castro and Burity but sc far it has only been possible to have a parochial school. One has also been established at Cavalcante, on the central table -land, where the young teacher, a graduate of the J.M.C., ran the day-school, a Sunday-school and also conducted the Sunday services.
The latest of the Mission schools have been in the State of Sta, Catha- rina, at Lages and Herval. Only the form.er has survived, through the strenuous efforts of Mr, & Itrs. Midkiff, and is being directed this year by a graduate of the J.M.C., who plans to enter the Semdnary in 1938.
It is perfectly safe to say that cur Mission schools have been the mnans of furthering nughtily the educaticnal standards of Brazil and of sending into Gospel v;crk dozens and dozens of Gospel trained m.cn and wom.en, thus am.ply justifying their founding and m.aintcnance ,
Not insignificant also has been the contribution m.ade by the Mission to the training of the ministry of Brazil, Beside the ycung mnn v/ho received all their theological training from. m.issicnaric s, it was the Mission which founded the first theological Seminary in Ric, in 1867. Later ^vhen the Presbyterian Church of Brazil founded itw own theological institutions, the Mission has freely granted the services of its mhssicnaries, Fnssrs, Kyle, porter, Kolb, Leningtc n, Andersen and MacLaren, to help in the teaching of these institutions.
MEMBERS OF TIE SOUTH BRAZIL M SSI OH
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1895-1896 1896 1896 |
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Issued by
THE FRIENDS OF SPAIN Room 901, 254 Fourth Avenue, New York City*
THE SPANISH BISHOPS JUSTIFY THE REBELLION
The Spaniards and foreigners well acquainted with the real causes of the Spanish rebellion will detect at once the misrepresenta¬ tions and open untruths of the bishops* document. But I am afraid that the number and representation of so many high church dignitaries may mis¬ lead many, particularly in countries like the United States and England, whero bishops are considored usually truthfxil and vory cautious in their affirmations* For such persons principally I v/rito this circular and also, of courso, for the hotter information of the "Friends of Spain,"
Before entering fully into the bishops* pastoral, lot my readers ponder the following facts:
(1) All those prelates who signed the pastoral wore elected to their high ecclesiastical positions because they wore fervent friends of the Spanish monarchy and personal friends of ex-King Alphonso. There¬ fore they were, from the very beginning, enemies of the Republic.
(2) The majority of them were absent from Spain when the rebellion started and none of them remained even a week in the territory controlled by the legal Gtovornment, so they speak not as real witnesses of tho facts but only from hearsay.
(3) They wrote the pastoral by request of Franco, the loader of the rebellion upon whom they now depend largely for their living and who promises them to restore the union of church and state and tho suprem¬ acy of the Roman Catholic Church against any other religion*
For the sake of brevity I will base myself on the five points which, as syntheses, were published the '^rd. of September in THE NEW YORK TBIES, and give only unquestionable facts; tho bishops say:
( 1 ) "The Church did not want tho civil war in Spain. . . "
If so, then why were the names of many leading ecclesiastics - among them bishops and cardinals - found on the lists of contributors for financing the rebellion? Why then was the following on tho list of secret orders found in the possession of two rebel officers captured by Loyalist troops during tho first week of tho rebellion: When you enter a town, soo at once the local priest, who will give you the list of our enemies? Then why, when tho commission of occlosiastics and military men in Siguonza reached a tie in voting whether to surrender to tho G-ovornnent or to continue fight¬ ing, was tho deciding vote of the Bishop (who was president) cost in favor of continuing the war? And why did many of the bishops publicly bless the rebellious soldiers, and thousands of tho priests take up arms against tho Republic? Tho first tvfo facts are of public knowledge; while tho others are not only of public knowledge, but have also boon boastfully corroborated by Queipo do Llano in his radio talks.
Again, if ’’some of the sons of the Catholic Church, in their personal responsibility to save the principles of Christian religion and justice, took up arr.is," hov can tho tishops explain that the raost devout Koinan Catholic provinces of Spain - namely, Alova, Guipuzcoa and Vizcaya - took up arris in favor of the Government and agsi^st Zrauco? ,.hy can’t they explain that very many thousands of priests and friars are now teing authorized to officiate in the territory con¬ trolled by the Government, or Loyalists?
( 2 ) "SincQ ISil the legislative and oxccutivo powe r in Spain has changed Spanish history in a sense contrary to tho needs of the national spirit^.,” How does the hierarchy int^.rpret tho follov/ing facts? The Republic was established by a municipal election. In all tho important cities of Spain - North, East, South, V.' st and Center - the victory for tho Republic was an astounding one. Even in lladrid, capital, of the monarchy, the majority for the Republic was more than twelve to one. The King was given forty-eight hours in \diich to fulfill his promise to abdicate; and, after consulting vrith political and mili¬ tary loaders, he decided to leave Spain at once. If that election did not prove that Spain as a v/holc repudiated the historical monarchy and wonted a change of national spirit, thon I do not know what kind of demonstration would be convincing,
A similar thing happened v:hcn tho mombers of the Constitutional Congress were elected. A great majority voted Republican; and, that the election was quite fair, can be proven by this fact: In Navarra, in the Basque Provinces, and in a great part of Old Castille whore Catholic and monarchical sontiment prevailed, the people eL'cted a Catholic and mon¬ archical majority. Now then, if Spain was well represented in that Con¬ stitutional Congress, v.'as she not within her rights to change Spanish history - if she pleased - particularly 'when the history of Spain while controlled by tho monarchy and the Roman Catholic hierarchy had been so bad? i.Ticn the country, in spito of enormous '■■ealth in mineral resources and fertile land, had boon a country of ncam-starvation for millions; when it had the largest percentage of illitorarcy and the lowest wages and standards of living oi any country in Europe; wore not the Republi¬ cans justified in socking to change its history?
The tishops persist:
( 3 ) "The elections of Eebruary l6th (not 3vd) , 193^# were unjust. . In wnat respect? In Spain, the law regulating: elections is favorable to ma joritics ; is identical to the la’,; of England and, in part, to the law ac¬ cording to vfiich the Presidv^nt of the United States is olocted. Even in our own country a President can be ^1-ctcd by a minority vote; that is,
a majority of a fo'.v hundreds in the states of New York, Illinois and Pennsylvania, can outweigh a majority of millions in other smaller states. In the last general election in England, the Labor Party hod an increase of nearly two million votes, and tho Notional Party a decrease of one and a half millions; and yet the proportion of candidates elected did not fol- lov; that increase and decreoso. Are w’o going to say that the lost general election in England was on unjust ono? Or that, v;hon Bryan got a majority of votes tut a minority of dclogctos, the election ’,:as on unjust one?
3*
By the way, have the bishops forgotten that, in the election of 1*333 » same law favored the Catholic candidates and, with the
connivance of Lerroux, gave them the balance of power in the Congress?
If they could honestly rejoice in their own victory in 1333 > call that of the Republicans in 133^ unjust one? Have they two standards of judgment?
When one considers the circumstances of the 133^ election, he cannot but bo surprised at tho victory of the Popular Front, Conditions for tho victory of the Right Hand parties were so favorable, and for that of tho Popular Front so unfavorable, that many of tho Republican loaders advised Azana not to enter into that election. Tho following arc facts which nobody can deny:
During tho two years the Rit^t Hand parties were in control, they destituted from office all Socialist and Republican mayors, and put in their places monarchists or friends of tho Right Hand. IVhon Portela Volladoros was given tho decreo for the dissolution of Congress and the proclamation of o now election, ho promised to restore those destituted mayors; but ho never fulfilled that promise. Two cardinals, os well os several archbishops and bishops, published pastorals ordering the people not to vote for the Popular Front candidates but to vote for those of the Right Hand, under penalty of mortal sin, Tiie aristocrats, and particularly the greatest Spanish millionaire, Juan Liarch, gave millions of pesetas to make propaganda ond buy votes for the Right Hond, When Ambessodor Fernonde do los Rios, tho leading Republican candid-to for the Province of Gronadr. , wont oround tho province campaigning, in many towns the Civil Guards forbade him to enter and speak; twice he was shot at, but fortunately not hit. In Malaga, where I was living, in their desperate attempt to win the election the Right Hand forces did away with the voting boxes in all of the sixty-five precincts in which the Popular Front had the majority of votes. And yet, in spite of all such treachery and tricks, tho majority was overwhelmingly for tho Popular Front, Evon Gil Robles himsolf , loader of tho Right Hand parties, said two days after tho election in his own paper, EL DEEATS, that until two o'clock he hod boon confident of winning but that, after two o’clock ovolanchcs of v.ork- ing-mon who usuolly did not voto, wont to tho polls for tho Popular Front, and so he vrns dofoatod.
But there is yet something more wrong in that statement. The bishops say that the Right Hand got more votes than the Leftists.
Here are the true statistics, as given in FOPiEIGN POLICY REPORTS for January 1, 1337*
"Including the figures for tho Basque Nationalists (132,247), who aro now supporting the Popular Front govemnont, the liberal and labor groups had a total of 4-> 206,136 votes, as compared with 3,783,601 for tho Right parties, and 681,047 for tho Contor."
Since tho so-called Center was ropresentod by Miguol Heui’a, Portela Valladares and some groups of tho Radical Republican Party, this Center must be considered nearer to tho Left Hand parties than to those of the Right Hand; bccauso Miguol Jfoura ond Portclo Vallodoros were porsoncl onomios of Gil Robles, true Republicans and onti-monr.rchists. So we con roach these two conclusions: First, thot excluding tho Center, the Popular Front hod an cbsoluto majority of 422,3555 Second, that if we include tho so-callod Center, its majority was 1,103,602,
It is abhorrent that high church dignitaries, to legitimatize the rebellion, call the war like an "armed plebiscite." A prominent Professor of History in the University of Columbia, Dr, Jamos T» Shotwell, replies :
"What right have those foreign troops to cast their votes in the blood and iron ballots that blotted out Basque liberties?
Aii"armod plebiscite" is an obvious absurdity, sinister in the contempt it reflects for democratic procedure.
( 4 ) "The Communist International had armed a revolutionary Spanish militia...." tho bishops protend. It seems incredible to mo that persons viftio - at least from a sense of dignity - ought to be more careful to soy tho truth, should make such untruo stetements, I was in I>fclogo when tho revolution started there. The rebel military loaders had in their possession tho cannons, machine guns and soldiers, which loft tho Government with practically no modern arnr.mont of any kind, iiX)roly some old hunting guns, old pistols, axes and such things. The same happened in ell other provinces. In Madrid, when the defenders
of the Government went to fight tho rebels in tho Guadarraraa Mountains, they hod only one mauser for every throe men. In Cataluna, tho propor¬ tion was no better. Certainly, the Communist International had armed tho militia of tho Government very corolossly and inefficiently! Such a statement os that quoted from the pastoral of the bishops may mislead soi^ie Americans; but in Spain it -ivill only orouso indignation and ridicule,
George Soldes, o veteran war correspondent who has v/ritton various books on foreign affairs and who returned from Spain this spring, says nothing against tho bishops:
"'It is documentarily proved fret,' continues the pastoral letter, 'that in the scrupulously prepared scheme of tho !, Marxist revolution, which was being made ready and which would have broken out in the whole country,'... There are no facts, no documents, no proofs which any Judge, jury, or objective person could accept of this charge.
It is the same red-boiting stuff of the Zinovioff letter, n fraud which cost the Labor Government power in England in I924, and the 'Communist Plot against the U.S. in Mexico , 'which was a fraud, al¬ though sent out by a member of the United States State Department in 1927. H. R. Knickerbocker, now of the Hoarst press, discovered in Berlin the factory where these and similar red-baiting documents are mc.nuf cctured. "
( 5 ) "Tile civil v/ar is logitinate, bocouse f i vo years of con¬ tinuous outrages . . . . " the bishops proclaim. The good bishops - incred¬ ible as it may seem - have forgotten that, during two years of the five the Republic had been in existence, the Right Hand parties in combination with the forces of Lorroux had control of Congress and control of public life; and oh! what enormous injustices were committed in thoso two years. They sot at naught the separation of church and state by restoring tho budget for the church and by giving education again largely into the hands of Jesuits, friars and nuns; they destroyed without compensation the cultivation of fields which had boon given by constitutional law to peasants; and they crushed tho Asturian Rebellion of October 1934» '^ith atrocities so revolting that one can scarcely credit thorn.
5
In connection with the last injustice nontioned, here are facts which no bishop can deny and V7hich will give light to the read¬ ers: Ambassador Fernando de los Rios visited Asturias afterwords, end prepared a confidential report vouched for by reliable witnesses and documents. Without his knowledge, that report was partly copied and reproduced in c French popor. At that time, Lerroux and the Catholics were in power; and, when Lerroux road the French article, ho stated indignantly in the leading Spanish papers: "If a tenth port of those accusations arc true, we have to punish severely some military leaders; but, if they ore not true. Professor Fernando de los Rios has to go to joil." A Supremo Court commission vras appointed to indict Professor Fernando de los Rios; but, after two hearings and after sending a com¬ mission to Asturias, the Supreme Court told Lerroux that all the charges wore true, and more besides. And yet, no military man v/as disciplined, nor anything else dona to right these wrongs.
The bishops now complain of so many Catholics being martyred; hove they forgotten the atrocities in Asturias? Have they forgotten the more than 3O1OOO prisoners in jail afterwords, the majority of them not guilty of any crino whatsoever? Wore not thoso men also Spaniards? And did not thoy suffer os great, or greater, mortyrdon as thoso with whom the bishops now sympathize?
To spook of atrocities committed by the Loyalst, w-hen the bishops oro bound to know and hove never protested against the mass executions in Badajoz, the destruction of Guernica and Mungia, the kill¬ ing of thousands of old mon, women and children in open cities comittod by Moors, Foreign Legionnaires, Italian and Gorman soldiers and bombers enlisted with the robol forces, is to arouse such groat indignation in millions of Catholic Spaniards that they will never forgot nor forgive the Ronen Catholic hierarchy for condoning to some extent such crimes.
And now comos a statement in that pr.storol which reveals os oxoggorctod certain figures given out seme months ego by the Vatican City about the number of priosts oxocutod by Loyalists. It was said - and publishod in the loading papers of this country - based on a stctc- mont coning from Vatican City that eleven bishops, 17,500 priests and nuns had been executed; but this pastoral gives the number as 6,000 of the secular clergy; and it also comes from Vatican City. Now, I am convinced that - of those 6,000 - the majority were killed fighting in the ranks of the rebels, I am quite convinced, also, that when the whole truth is known, it will be proven that only a few hundreds have been killed in the towns and cities of their ministries, and that ninoty por cent of these had aroused the anger and hatred of the common people by shov/ing thcrasolvos as old Carlists and encmios of the Republic,
Most significantly the bishops mako no mention in thoir pastoral of tho elevon bishops and some nuns who had formerly boon declared execut¬ ed by the Loyalists. Doubtless, they decided it best to bo silent now about that previous gross misrepresentation.
Over and over again, however, they do try to make the impression that the burning of churches, the killing of priests and so on, was duo to the Komintorn influence of Russia, iniien they arc bound to know that - long before Russia became Communist - the common pooplo of Spain did tho very same things to the clericals. More than a century ago, when Russia was ruled by a czar and Spain was a monarchy, the Spanish government sup¬ pressed all convents of friars and nuns, oxilod almost all bishops or put thorn into jail, took possession of all ecclesiastical properties, and tho
6
i
populace of Iladrid killed scores of friars and priests. Again, about thirty years ago, during the so-called "Tragic Week" of Barcelona, while Russia was still ruled by a c^ar and Spain by a king, scores of priests and friars wore killed on sight in the streets of Barcelona and many churches were burned. Were these things also inspired by the Komintern of Russia, even if it had not then come into existence? Ko, the e^^) la nation has been well put by Salvador de liadariaga in his im¬ portant book, "Spain," published a few months before the Republic was established, when ho said that - of all the clericalisms of the world - Spanish clericalism was the worst.
On July 19, 1936» four hours after the common people of Malaga had defeated the revolution, and when they were burning the mansions of fascists and other enemies of the Republic, I with my wife could walk peacefully through the streets of the city, in which I was well known as a Christian minister and a writer and lecturer on religious subjects.
No, the hatred of the common people of Spain is not for the minister of God; it is for the political clerical.
Results
Will such a pastoral change the attitude of the millions of the best and most highly cultured Cgtholics who from the very beginning of the rebellion gave their support to the legally constituted government? By no moans. Here are some striking facts: Two months after the pastoral vras published (the pastoral was published in Spanish in June and in English in September) the government authorized about 14,000 priests and friers to officiate. It is true that the Pope forbade them to accept and use such authorization from the Spanish Government. The Pope and the Spanish bishops are deeply concerned in presenting the government of Valencia os anti-God, and hov; con they continue to propogr.to such 0 calumny if thousands of priests and friars soy mass, confess the faith¬ ful and practice in private and public the Roman Catholic religion? It is preforoblo for them to deprive the faithful of the comforts of relig¬ ion than to bo deprived of a good pretext to calumniate the government. That typo of spirit will reveal to my rondors thet the m*nin interest of the Pope and bishops is not religious but purely political. Will the Catholic leaders abstain from officiating? Not at all. They are abso¬ lutely convinced that the Pope and the bishops are not only traitors to the country but, worse still, traitors to the ideals of Christianity.
I have at hand a great many testimonies from canons, priests and frairs but I shall only quote the protest of a leadiiig Catholic layman, the editor of the most cultured Roman Catholic magazine, Jose Bergamin:
"You (bishops and Pope) have been traitors to the Catholic ideals. Many of you have become blasphemous and sacrilegious, using the sacred images and relics to bless criminals who have killed thousands of children, women and old men; some of you oven used the sacred host to bless lifoors and Italians to invade Spain. You have committed the unpardonable sin of being traitors to your religion and to your coun¬ try."
7
The religious situotion of Spain is similor to the situation of England of the time of Henry VIII with this difference. In England the bishops sided with the King ogainst the Pope. In Spain today the bishops side with the Pope agrinst the legitimate government, ond thou¬ sands of the lower clergy side with the government against the Pope, Logically and very na, turally, moro millions of Cotholics who feel com¬ pelled in good faith and conscience to break with papacy end episcopacy will try to justify their attitude, and the host and most cultured of them will go for the justification of their conduct to the primitive church beliefs and doctrines. Those Roman Cotholics offer to me the grootost opportunity for the gospel and the groctest hope for the cva.n- golizotion of Spain in great scale. Oh, how much I pray ond work that God enables no to go bock to Spain end holp in this providontial emer¬ gency. I recently received a lottor from my secretary while I was in lialaga who is now in Pladrid as editor of ono of tho groat Spanish dailies AilORA. He tells me I would not bo able to imagine tho groat changes of the now Spain vAiich is emerging. Ho belongs to the promising porty of unified youths, a porty which roaches almost a million young men ond girls. Ho roelly pictures in his long lottor a marvelous and new Spain and ho ends saying, "You con rest assured that we aro working day ond night for tho new Spain, and aro rcodyto die in tho fight to accomplish it."
In tho September 22nd issue of THE CHRISTIAN CENTURY Sherrmod Eddy soys:
"I hod supposed that Spain was a degenerate country, loft stranded in tho hnekr/otors of history. But to my surprise I found a now Spain which nay bo a pionoer of a new world, as it once was the pioneer in opening up a now hemisphere in the West.
"The Spaniards have fought marvelously. They have built up a disciplined modern army of over G00,000 men and have throo times tho potential manpowor of Franco, to whom tho masses of tho com¬ mon people are not loyal. Tliey have evolved a now type of general, somewhat like Garibaldi, in tho persons of Lister, Modests ,CampQnsino and Carlos, several of v;hom I met. Lister was once a stonebroakor on tho road. Carlos vfas a minor. A third loyal general is still called "the peasant." V/hilo Franco's side has the advantage in equipment, the loyalists have a docidod superiority in spirit and numbers. If the Spaniards wore loft to themselves they could do- foat Franco in a fow woeks...,
"The Spanish revolution is a struggle for independence, like that of the American colonies. But it is a struggle against wrongs a hundred tines os groat os those our forefathers endured, wrongs suffered for two thousand yoars. It is a fight to halt tho world odvanco of fascist dictatorships which mark the lost stage of dis¬ integrating capitalism. Positively, it is n struggle for tho building in backward Spain of a new social order T^iich nay yot prove a harbingor for the donccratic world of tho future."
The President of the Republic, lianuel Azaha, in his recent speech pronounced in Valencia said,
"...I hear frequent talk of the reconstruction of Spain; it is natural enough. Wo shall have to rebuild the cities and the factories and the roads, set up the inachinos again: but all that is political work, Govorninental work, and tho task of tho Ministers or of tho Syndicates, I am not talking of that now. There is another aspect of the reconstruction of Spain which concerns mo: tho roconstruction of Spain on the moral and spiritual plane of the country, moro important than the other roconstruction, for without it the other could not bo ochiovod,.."
Richmond, Virginia September 26, 1957*
(Signed) JUAN CRTS GONZALEZ
/EDNESDAY, MARCH 1, 1939,
14 .,
\ ,
‘ ■ C'. 2v' \
^smF«
/ ba froi thes( the ] T wide cyno glarr fashi migl our ( Calii
(LATIN AMERICA AND TOTALITARIANISM)
From letter column of the Birmingham (Ala.) Post, August 15, 1940, where it was given a different heading by the editor.
Editor The Post:-
There has been much discussion in recent months of the desirability of uniting North and South America against the menance of totalitarianism. But there are two reasons, which nearly every one seems to have overlooked, why that sort of government would be much more acceptable to our neighbors on the south than to us.
First, nearly all Latin-American countries have more women than men; partly on account of wars and revolutions, partly because of the emigration of men, and partly from more obscure causes. A similar condition existed in the southern states during the Re¬ construction period, seventy years ago, and it exists now in most European countries. Whatever the cause, wherever women are in the majority the men do not have to strive very hard for their favors, and thus tend to become docile, and inclined to follow the path of least resistance. And in such communities almost any man can get married, and the weak and inefficient ones have about as good opportunities as the strong for perpetuating their kind.
It is an interesting and probably significant fact that women outnumbered men in Ireland for many decades, when it was a sort of vassal state. But with the lessening of emigration the balance turned in favor of the sterner sex about 1905, and since then Ireland has won almost complete freedom from England. The royal families of Europe had about 25 percent more sons than daughters for several centuries prior to the World War; but since then the trend has been in the other direction, and the king business has slumped con¬ siderably, as I pointed out in a letter in the Post of Feb. 27, 1938.
The second factor is that in most parts of the world outside of the United States, Canada and Australia the people have for centuries huddled together in villages and cities for mutual protection, and thus lost much of
the self-reliance that they might otherwise have had. Our republic was founded by the bolder spirits, who broke away from the sheltered life, paternalism and regimentation of Europe, and asked no favors of any¬ body; and that tradition is still strong here.
Early explorers of America found the Indians living in villages and pueblos, and even in such a thinly set¬ tled country as Mexico, where Indian blood has al¬ ways predominated, the Indian tradition is so strong that the census of 1921 found only 33 isolated habita¬ tions in that whole country, as compared with prob¬ ably at least a million in the United States.
If isolation is conducive to self-reliance, as here suggested, it is not surprising that the United States produces more statesmen in proportion to population than Europe or South America, and that most Latin- American countries have long been accustomed to dic¬ tators, benevolent or otherwise. The predominantly rural population of the South ought to give it an ad¬ vantage in this respect, and v/e like to think that our statesmen are the equal of those in any other part of the country. Certainly the thickly settled northeastern states, although they may excel in education and science, have little to teach us in the way of statesman¬ ship.
ROLAND M. HARPER.
(University, Ala., Aug:. 12, 1940)
SUPPLEMENTARY NOTE
The foregoing letter does not tell the whole story, because in order not to spoil its chances of being published it had to be kept short, and some facts that might be discouraging to city boosters and others were left out. Some of them are added here.
Females have outnumbered males in the Negro population of the United States ever since about 1835, and even at birth the proportion of males is always less among them than among the whites. Negroes also seem to have a more gregarious tendency than whites, having lived in villages in Africa much like the American aborigines, from all accounts. These facts seem to have been overlooked by all the agitators who are striving for race equality, and there is no easy way of changing the situation by education, exhortation, legislation, philanthropy or planning, as far as we know.
There are more women than men in the urban population of the United States, and this together with the loss of self-reliance that seems to be inevitable in city and village life helps explain why most of our large cities have been afflicted with political bosses
at one time or another, and why the farms produce more states¬ men in proportion to population than the cities, but fewer now than formerly, on account of the growth of cities, and city in¬ fluences.
City life of course has its advantages, especially in labor-saving, for in a city many public services, such as police protection, water and lights, that the farmers used to provide for themselves, or do without, are furnished by the municipality, or corporations. The economies are especially marked in apartment houses, which for one thing are much cheaper to heat than the same number of families in separate houses. But all this tends to destroy individu¬ ality and initiative, and make the people flabby if not childish. The rapid extension of urban conveniences, such as mail delivery, paved highways, consolidated schools, telephones, radios and elec¬ tric lights, to the rural districts in recent years, with ever-in¬ creasing taxation for new governmental services, bids fair to make mollycoddles of the farmers too, and pave the way for totali¬ tarianism here.
In the Montgomery .Advertiser of August 15, a few hours be¬ fore this letter was published, there was an item on the editorial page headed “Helpless city dwellers,” based on an editorial in the New York Times, relayed, with comments, through two south¬ ern papers. The Times editorial said, in part:-
“Country people are, usually from necessity, accustomed to looking out for themselve.s. By temperament they are more
self-contained . A city person regards everything he
can do for himself as a sign of genius. He expects to be ad¬ mired and praised for not being totally helpless.”
They might have added that the substitution of machinery for muscle, with its consequent softening effects, is more prevalent in cities than in the country, and now than formerly; and that in some cases city people are discouraged by labor unionists from attempting any work outside of their regular routine.
The sheep-like mentality of city people is illustrated by the proclamations of many mayors in recent years, fixing the begin¬ ning and end of the straw-hat season; which seems to be taken seriously by some, but would bo un-thinkable in the rural districts. The many special “weeks” for this, that and the other fad that we have had since the World War have their chief following, if any, in the cities.
Notes on Report of Rev. Edward G. Seel, Executive Secretary of the Colombia Mission.
Presented to Executive Council January 25, 1939*
The following paragraphs are not intended as a full description of the situation in Colombia, nor of the work of the Colombia Mission. The Council is doubtless familiar with conditions in Latin America, and knows what most American congregations do not know, namely, that Colombia is a field that needs the missionary, and is worthy of our best enterprise; that it is a land in which the Way of Salvation in Christ is as yet but meagerly known; that due to Roman Catholic hostility, the Christian worker has encountered difficulties as great as those of Mohammedan lands; that the present is a time of special opportunity in Colombia.
The Field Colombia occupies a roughly rectangular area in the north-west corner of South America. The cutting off of Panama, when the first President Roosevelt "took" the isthmus in .order to build the Canal, left Colombia with approximately 750 miles of coast orf^ the Caribbean and 85O miles on the Pacific. The area is about ten times that of the State of Pennsylvania. Population nearly 9,000,000.
Due to the varying mixture of Negro and Indian and white strains, people of low coastal levels are darker, while those of highlands of interior are lighter or white. Few Indians are left, and these are found in remote regions of eastern pampas and western slopes. On account of the mountainous character of the country, highways and railways are few and travel is slow and expensive. The missionary travels by train and bus, by river steamer and dug-out canoe, on horse and mule- back, to reach the widely scattered believers or to open new centers.
Roman Catholic Domination Since the l6th century, when Spain explored and conquered South America, Colombia has been under the domination of the Roman Church. In nearly every aspect of life the power of the church has been supremo with but fe'w and short interruptions, so that it may bo said that this Church has done for the people, or left undone, precisely what it has wished. The result hero, as almost everywhere in Latin America, has been corruption in political life, obscurantism in religion, illiteracy even today lOfo, low moral standards (more children born out of wedlock than within), amazing spiritual poverty.
The people of Colombia have marked capacity for the things of the spirit and respond to the appeal of the good, the beautiful, the true. If instead of having been fed on the dry husks of ecclesiastical ritual, they had been nourished these L|.00 years on the Living Bread, they might today be strongly leaders in Christendom.
It is our duty to give these people, whe in no sense may be regarded as evangelized, the pure Gospel of Christ, so that He, and not a Romish pope nor a hierarchy of priests, nor any pantheon of saints, may have the pre-eminence.
Occupation In I856, Col. James Fraser, a Scotch Presbyterian, an officer of the British Legion which had helped Bolivar win the wars of Colombia's independence, urged our Board to send missionaries to this land. The response of our Board was very limited, in fact until I9IO there wore rarely more than two or three mission¬ aries in all of Colombia, and often there wore none, duo to furloughs. Until quite recently, ours has boon the only body engaged in the evangelization of Colombia, though only since Dr. Speer's visit in I9IO can wo speak of a "mission" in Colombia. Our first missionaries wont to Colombia 82 years ago, yet only li| General Meetings of the mission have boon hold. In I93O a World Dominion Movement survey character¬ ized Colombia as the loast evangelized area in the world. This gave rise to the entrance of several missionary bodies, mostly of Faith Missions, which manifest splendid zeal, but have little experience, meager financial backing, and limited intellectual preparation for the enormous task. Few of these new organizations are as yet able to make groat contribution to the evangelization of Colombia.
-2-
Tho Presbyterian Mission has vrork in seven of the lU States of the republic. These are the most populous, containing throo-f ourths of the evangelistic work in 90 centers, carried on by missionaries, workers of whomThere are 55. We have 30 elementary seWs
communities, many of these being self-supporting. Besides we have ^
nfforiap- secondary instruction, two in the capital, Bogota, th prlnclparpLrclty.^arranquiU— Ihoro »oro 2000 pupils unrollod in our JShoSs last yLr. Wo havo also a Blblo Training School for rural oyangolists, an which there were 13 students last year.
The personnel of the Colombia Mission is utterly inadequate for the out of :vrrrini«.um prograr. of »iss ionary occupation. Th s nay fnr.+- that there are but 29 names on the roster of Colombia Mission. »
Ze rSiref L-ranrif Lee), two have resigned (Mr. and Mrs. Mse), one has a
prolonged leal of absence (Mrs. «-Sla=3). -d ZtlliZsZT'Sl
next year. Unless new recruits arrive, there .nil bo ^ ell ordained
:::nn Srni::ior:hffa:*lfel:ri tLe“to tL- evangelistic worh.
3000 baptized evangelical Christians. The total num Rnp-nta Bucaramanga,
brl Xrga^fonrilli*/-oX1o^^^
uSralSTssronarylr brirCoflb^imUsl To ll too infrequently Isil tlm To illuct and^onfim then in the faith. .X^lle^rdelirbylL work advanced ns much by means of the testinony_ o — ^npai between the visits of
their personal testimony.
On the whole the Colombian workers are splendid men impelled “ ^^“8
splrilof evangelism. -Th^rTare^^
continue in the work, it ^ ^ . rd and His vrork. They are not
l:lin| ll“ors:=rularf Slid llhiltask because of their deep sense of mission.
.. ,.f r Si?.rrr;;,g^:;S5ia L
which missionaries and nationals alike belong. y resulting
the fact that advance is too slow, due to our lack of The
sense of futility induces ^i-ouragemonWd^pcssi^^^^^^^ jrPorner'Lw
Mission ^SrjrLent^personnel of the Mission averages ta.elve years
^/s:f:i^e™n1h: fIrld; and ?his improved attitude of persistence in the work is reflected in the spirit of the national v/orkers.
and are developing a greater sense of responsibility for the
-3-
Bk Educational work. As indicated above, this includes the four largo city schools in Barranquilla and Bogota, and nunerous rural schools. The former are accredited before the government so that graduo.tes may take university entrance oxaiainations.
The latter are conducted by young teacher-evangelists,- girls trained in our schools,- virho go out to tovms, villages or farms to teach the children, at the same timo helping to build up a congregation. Almost half of these rural schools are independent of mission support.
There is a distinct liaison between the evangelistic work and the educational.
In the cities, the largo schools are the best recruiting agency for the church, since students are brought into church membership, and at once put to work in Sunday School, Young Peoples societies. Vacation Bible Scheols, and other forms of service. The rural schools are parish schools conducted in the local chapel, and directly integrated into the church work.
In a land whore illiteracy is so high, there should bo no need to defend good schools as legitimate missionary activity. In Colombia, our schools are regarded as essential to the mission’s program, for without them it would bo extremely difficult to roach thoughtful people in the city, or release people from ignorance and superstition in the coxmtry. For the sake of the future church, the mission's educational work must bo maintained.
Definite progress is being made in preparing national leaders to boar respon¬ sibility in the large schools of Barranquilla and Bogota. At least five of the strongest teachers have been enabled to go abroad for study in the United States or Europe. The principal of the Bogota Girls School is a Colombian lady, with whom missionary teachers are associated in harmonious cooperation. The vice- principal of this school, as well as tv/o national heads of departments in the Barranquilla Girls School, have profited by study in the United States. The vice¬ principal of the Barranquilla Boys School, who is also the pastor of the First Church of Barranquilla, is just novir returning from the Biadras Conference. ^hus Colombian leaders are being prepared, into whose hands the work is gradually being placed.
C. Medical work. Colombia Mission has, as its only form of medical work, a small Maternity Center in the city of Medellin. The nurse in charge finds tine, besides attending to the cases treated at the Center, to itinerate over the State to rural regions, teaching mothers to care for their children, treating the sick and inculcating principles of sanitation and hygiene. In a land whore infant mortality is excessively high, where there are endemic diseases that can be successfully combatted, where there arc 3O/OOO lepers poorly cared for, and whore evangelical patients in hospitals are ostracised and mistreated on account of their faith, certainly there is much that could bo done through medical missionary effort, which would not only alleviate suffering and exemplify the true spirit of Him who came not to bo ministered unto but to minister, but would contribute directly to the extension of His Kingdom.
Open Doors.
Besides the on-going v/ork just outlined, which must be maintained at all costs and strengthened, Colombia Mission has before it many and varied appeals each of which constitutes an opportunity for Kingdom building service. The Mission is aware, however, of the difficulties with which the Board is confronted in view of the continued shrinkage of foreign missions contributions from the home Church. It therefore offers for the Board's consideration only throe appeals, which can be met with a minimum of additional personnel and money.
1, Intonsification of Evangelistic effort. Although no missionary is now serving as pastor of a Colombian congregation, the tine has not yet come when the over¬ sight of rural congregations and the planting of new centers within the territory for which we are responsible can be wholly placed in the hands of national workers. The field is too extensive and the Colombian workers whom wo can support are too few in nanber to bring about any effective advance. Calls for visits from those who wish to hoar the Gospel are coning in groat number from many places. With only tauo ordained missionaries to work so extensive a field, it is impossible to respond to those calls, and the heart grows sick in view of the needs that must go unmet. Colombia Mission needs more missionaries for this basic work of evangelization, together with some increase in funds for Class VII.
2. Student v/ork in Bogota. Not loss than 3OOO young non and women are studying in the different university schools of Bogota. Aiaong them arc at least fifty alumni of our own Barranquilla and Bogota schools, and many others of evangelical sympathy. There are no dormitories, and the students live in boarding houses, or with families of friends, v/hcro accommodations are most unsatisfactory. Rooms are dark and cold, food is expensive and of poor quality. There is no library, reading room or study hall where those youhg folks may prepare their lessons, 'typically they study out of doors, v/hen the weather permits, in parks and on the porticos of public buildings. Or worse, they go to the cafes and saloons, and by ordering a drink or a cup of coffee, have the privilege of sitting at a table to do their studying. This is suggestive of the difficulties under which they work, and of the moral hazards they have to moot. A university pastor, v;orking through a student hostel which ho could establish and conduct vmthout excessive outlay, could render untold service in this field, and win many of Colombia's future leaders to Christ. Not a few of those students occasionally attend our Bogota church, the pastor of which they remember as a former teacher. The Mission refers this need to the Board and appeals for help.
5. Theological Seminary. The Bible Training School conducted by the Mission at Medellin provides training for rural evangelists in a satisfactory manner. But wo have no moans of training ministerial candidates who have finished their studies in one of our secondary schools. From among those must come the future pastors of cur city churches. Without groat outlay, a department can be set up in the Barranquilla Boys School in which those candidates, of v/hom five will bo ready to being their work in loss than a year, can bo trained, ^ho churches of Barranquilla, and the gospel halls of the city, will provide occupation and experience for these young men, who by temperament and backgroxmd, , as well as by academic preparation, are fitted for such study and training as is proposed. One ordained, experienced missi nary can conduct this Seminary work for the present. Dr. Vondorbilt has expressed his willingness to inaugurate this department, beginning next November, provided there will bo some one on the field to take it over when he retires at the age of 70 the following October. May the Mission count upon the Board's support of this project?
What Colombia Mission needs.
Realizing fully that the Board will not, in all probability, bo able to sus¬ tain and expand our forces indefinitely, Colombia Mission has adopted the policy of consolidating its work and restricting its field by turning over units and areas to the national church and to younger missions as rapidly as those are able to assume responsibility for them. It v/ill still be some years before any con¬ siderable amount of v/ork can thus bo transferred, and it is our duty to carry on, advancing the work as much ns possible for the next eight or ton years* In order
-5-
that wc nay bo able to do this, and that a nininun advanco nay be nado alone tho linos just skotchod, tho Mission asks the following.-
1. That tho Board exonpt this nission fron tho quota plan, increasing tho active personnel of tho nission to 35 nissionarios , and replacing losses so as to naintain this nanbor as a nininun working force for tho next ten years. (Soo Action M-i^l? at ond).
2. That tho appropriations to tho native work classes bo incroasod by $2000 U, S. por year. (Soo Minute X-3I4.O of January 1, I938, at end).
3. That tho Board allow tho nission to soli certain properties which are not now yielding best return to tho work, and authorize tho roinvostnont of at least a part of tho proceeds of such salo in order to inplonont tho work and projects out¬ lined above. Further appeal for appropriations for capital investnont should not bo necessary for sono tino to cone. Such roinvostnont would nako possible a nov/ plant for Bogota Girls School, land for Ibaguo Church. Enorgoncy grants aro roquostod
to cover cost of soa-vrall at Puerto Colonbia, destroyed by storn, and paving and sourer asscssnonts levied by nunicipal authorities in Barranquilla, otc.
Why tho present is the tine for advanco in Colonbia
1. Tho present is an epoch of rebirth in Colonbia. Tho Liberal govornnont oloctod in 1930 brought to an ond half a century of political corruption under tho priest- doninatod Conservative Party. Tho now Constitution, adopted in I936, besides introducing nany other needed reforns, guarantoos liberty of v/orship and conscience. Tho Penal Code, enacted last Soptonber, nakos it nandatory upon all officials to protect all citizens in tho exorcise of this liberty. This noans that tho puro Gospol of Josus Christ nay now bo proachod and taught frooly. Groat advanco is being nado in public education; toachors trained, schools built, otc. Highvmys so badly noodod in Colonbia arc being constructed, so that our fields aro norc accGSsiblo than fornorly. With thoir hopos revived by those roforns, tho people aro alort to tho significance of the tines, and aro asking for schools, or starting then on thoir ovm initiative. Critical of old priost-deninatod schools, they aro donanding lay education, veith study of Ronan dogna optional. This is nothing loss than a renaissance in Colonbia, v/hich is transfoming tho nodioval oligarchy into a nodorn donocracy. All of this favors tho advrmco of tho Gospol, and nust bo taken advantage of.
2. Tho Mission is in a favorable position to advance.. Tho work of tho Mission is coordinated and unified as nov.r before. Rogionalisn;^%oing broken dovm, and^^olo nission is facing unitedly tho comon tqsk. No personal quarrels hinder cooperation. Mission as working force is functioning effectively, though inadequately staffed.
Now nothods aro yielding results.
3. Tho National Church is ready for advanco. Tho presbyteries and synod aro serving to unify national forces, to give outlet for hitherto undiscovered capacities, to encourage Colonbian loaders giving then now sonso of thoir inportanco in tho evangelical novonont. Encouraging anount of evangelistic work done by laynon, and noro will bo possible if wo can provide linitod assistance. Mission is not giving subvention to parishes, but is helping finance projects. Unovangolizod character of field explains present lovol of solf- support, which nay bo oxpoctod to rise as church intonsifios propagation of Message.
-6-
I4.. Relations botiTCen Missionaries and nationals are hamonious. In the nanagenent of funds nationals are associated on a basis of equality v/ith nissionaries, and are bearing their full share of the responsibilityo (See page 2 (A))
5. Movenent toward unification of evangelical churches well under way. The Con¬ ference of Evangelical Missionaries^ nooting every six nonths, has brought about the adoption of a statonont of Christian Doctrine as basis of union anong the nissions working in the interior, and plans looking toward organic union arc well advanced.
Those facts, and others which night bo added, dononstratc that the present is a unique nonent in the history of evangelical work in Colonbia. Failure to take advantage of it nay undo the labor of years. As "there is a tide in the affairs of non, which taken at the flood leads to fortune", so also there is a tide in the affairs of the Kingdon which, rightly utilized, will load to triunphs There arc seasons in which, if vre but lot Hin, the Holy Spirit will vrork nightily.
Granted the personnel the Mission novif asks for, and the slight increase in appropriations, it is reasonable to expect narked advance in the work during tho next decade. Without this inplcnonting of plans and policies, tho Mission will be fighting a rear-guard action, but will keep on fighting, oven though with dininishod noralc. Now is the tine for advance in Colonbia.
M-lj.17 - Personnel Needs of Mission (Fron Minutes of Colonbia Mission, January 6, 1939* )
On notion, tho nccting resolved itself into a Connittoe of the whole for the consideration of the personnel needs of the nission. On arising, tho following resolutions wore approved:
That tho Mission wishes to express to tho Board its heartfelt appreciation of tho Board* s genor ius support of the work of the Colonbia Mission during tho long depression thr^jugh which tho country and tho Board have been passing. At the sane tine tho Mission feels inpollod and justified in presenting for the Board’s con¬ sideration tho following reasons for reiterating our request for on adcqua.to staff of nissionaries for this Mission.
a) Since this Mission has never had a staff of nissionaries cormensurato with the size, popula.tion and opportunities of the field in conparison with nany other Missions under our Board, and
b) Since old ago retirenent and other unavoidable losses have already depleted our ranks below a practical v/orking nininim for carrying on our present units of work: and
c) Since, after careful consideration, wo are convinced that there is not one of those units which wo can either drop or turn over to Colonbian workers or to any other Mission v^itheut unjustifiable sacrifice of essential olcnonts of our progran and tho loss of tho results of nany years of sacrificial and tearful sowing} and
d) Since the application of the quota systen in sending reinforconents to the fields will soon mkc it inpossiblo to carry on this work: and
-7-
g) Since in a nunber of other Prosbytorian Missions the circunstancos arc such as to require a dininishing nunber of foreign nissionarics, Tvheroas in Colonbio. the opportunities for advance arc in evidence as never before# • the open door v/c have so long prayed for is at last appearing ... we arc convinced that retrenchnent now would bo the greatest of follies.
THEREFORE wo earnestly petition the Board to oxenpt this Mission fron the quota plan, to increase the active staff of the Mission to thirty-five (35) nissi marios , and to replace losses so as to naintain this nunber as a nininun working staff for tho next ten ycci,rs.
X-3^0 •• Increase of Peso Appropriation Needed (Fron Minutes Executive Coniaittco of Colonbia Mission, January 1, 1938)
Having studied with oxtrcnc care the cstinatos of tho peso classes for tho approaching fiscal year, and having found then inadequate for tho naintcnanco of national workers already engaged in evangelistic work, tho Connittoo urgently re¬ quests tho Boo.rd to fix the basic appropriation for Classes V to X at $21)., 000. 00 pesos, beginning April 1, 1938* This request is based cn tho following considera¬ tions ;
1) Since 193U, when tho nativo work appropriations were placed on a pesos basis, the purchasing povror of tho Colonbian peso in the local narkots has dininished by at least 3^%, and wage scales and salaries have correspondingly increased.
2) Since 1932, the Class V to X appropriations have been subject to reduction totaling 16%.
3) The increase of $2,035* T5 pesos, voted May 9, T935, was nado for the v/ork of the now d.opartnent of Exocutivo Secretary, and therefore does not increase tho aneunts v/hich nay be used for the activities of Classes VII to X.
1)) During recent years tho Harknoss Grant has helped tho Mission partially to naintain the fomer level of evangelistic work. The discontinuance of this grant after the current year constitutes a reduction of approxinatoly 18^ of the funds available for this type of work. Coning just at tho tine when tho adnini strati on of Class VI"*" monies is being undertaken by tho Synod of Colombia and its Presby¬ teries, this reduction creates an embarrassing situation, both for the Mission and for those now ecclesiastical bodies.
5) Colonbia* s now Constitution provides legal guarantees for tho propagation of the Gospel as novor before; persecution is markedly dininishing; fields are open; people are responsive; and national loo.dcrs are prepared. The Colonbian Church is awake to tho new opportunities, and has proposed specific projects to the Mission for advance, being ready to participate in then to tho point of material sacrifice. Clearly this is no tino for retrenchnent. On the contrary, for tho naintonanco of the morale of the National Church and of the Mission, it is extremely urgent that some considerable advance be nado at this tino.
Morelos 3
Cuernavaca^ Mor., Mexico April 1, 1%1
Dear Friends:
I am vfriting this just at the time that Mexico and the United States are formulating a treaty by which army planes, large and small, to and from Panama, may have the privilege of sta3ring as long as twenty-four hours in Mexican airports under the protection of the Mexican government for the purpose of refueling and re¬ pairing. The same privileges to be given to Mexican planes at airports in the United States, if the need should arise.
All of this reminds us how things have changed, and how far down the road friendliness between the two countries has traveled. It has not been svd.ft traveling, this friendliness between (predominantly) Anglo-Saxon United States and (predominantly) Latin Mexico, between nominally Protestant United States and nomi- nally Catholic Mexico. Not more than tv;o weeks ago I heard one Mexican remark to another that at one time Mexico was larger than the United States. The bare state¬ ment of that fact, ivithout going into the history of how it all came about, or it may be by going into this history, would not tend to increase the fondness of Mexico for the United States, The long history of the acquisition and use of all kind of Mexico's natural resources by foreigners, and especially by people from the United States, has been a big obstacle to friendliness between the people of the two countries. This treaty along with the announcement from time to time that the differences arising from property questions are being adjusted, would seem to in¬ dicate that these obstacles are being removed, or at least smoothed down. And to any one viio takes occasion of this treaty to say again vihat has been said so many times by those #io, in all Latin America, have deep rooted animosity against every¬ thing that pertains to the United States, that this and every other approach made by the United States toward Latin countries, is for the one purpose of pressing down still harder the yoke of economic and political bondage, the government of Mexico can point to the biggest celebration, just three weeks ago, that has ever been held, of the anniversary of the expropriation of all foreign oil properties on March 18, 1937. That was Mexico's declaration of independence from foreign economic domination. This independence was re-affirmed a little later iMien, on account of misunderstandings growing out of this expropriations, Mexico broke off diplomatic relations with England, - a thing which amazed the whole political world, and no coxintry more than England herself. We can all have our opinions as to vdiether or not Mexico did not act too precipitately in expropriating the foreign oil properties, but this increasing interest on the part of the government and the people of Mexico in these annual celebrations, makes it evident that Mexico expects to stand by her acts. Things are different now,
VJhen General Obregon was visiting some of the American cities, just be¬ fore his inauguration as President of Mexico, some years ago, thus seeking to bind into closer friendship the two countries, he said that difference of religion had always been one obstacle to closer friendship. Catholics have a feeling of fear and animosity for Protestants, and Protestants have a feeling of fear and animosity for Catholics. One wonders if there is not in the heart of many of the ardent Catholics strong objections to this treaty. The nev:s of the billions that are to be spent by the United States to aid England, is read morning and evening and heard over radio every hour by the Mexican people. It must be that the same feeling in Catholic hearts v/hich sent the "Invincible Armada" in 158S to destroy Protestant England must now exist in many Catholic hearts against a country vjhich is now all out for saving Protestant England, Vie need not be surprised that Priests in their pulpits call on the people to pray for the success of Germany. This periiaps not so much that Germany may win but that England may lose. It is well-known that in the other vforld war the predominant sentiment was in favor of Germany. This alliance
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with the United States shows how things have changed and how far down the road friendliness between the two countries has traveled.
Just now as spring is coming on, the birds lAhich have spent a pleasant winter in balmy Mexico, are leaving for th^ir homes in the United States. And yihile the number of people from the United States viio visit Mexico increases year i^y^ysar ^d the warm welcome they receive is another indication of the gromng friendship between the people of the tvio countries, still we have been too slow in learning the lessons which the birds have been trying to teach during the centuries.
The continental, or to be more exact, this hemispherical defense program, of vdiich this treaty is only a part, is bringing about in Mexico similar national plans, similar viewpoints and similar activities to those in the United States.
The increase in the army, the navy and the air force and most of the other plans for national defense in the United States are being paralleled in Mexico. The western hemisphere is becoming more and more a united hemisphere. There is an in¬ creasing friendliness among all the nations of the American continents.
_ Shall it be that only in political circles the spirit of friendliness is dncreasing? Shall birds be the only messengers of good will? Shall material national defense be the only kind that calls for sacrifice? Shall the material and the temporal be of more vital concern than those things for v\hich Christ gave his life? Shall covenants between nations be greater factors in binding men togeth¬ er than the Covenant of grace be which Christ binds those of all nations to Him and to each other in Him? Shall the Church let the State lead in forming pacts viiich have to do with only a part of life, and not be herself and bear witness to God
whose organ she is for the coming of His Kingdom wiiich is His sovereign rule over all life?
I was talking a few daj^s ago with one of the loyal Catholic laymen of Cuernavaca. He now gives much of his time in accompanying the priests in their visits to the villages around Cuernavaca. It v/as on such a visit and 7\rhile w'aiting in a bus station that we had our conversation. He is full of hopes for his Church. He talked encouragingly of the attendance on mass in the Cathedral here in Cuernava¬ ca at the 5 o'clock, 7 o'clock, 9 o'clock, and 11 o'clock celebrations on Sunday.
He condemned in strong terms the restrictions placed on the Chur-ch by the govern¬ ment a few years ago and spoke with satisfaction of the present friendly attitude toward religion. Mexico can hardly be classified now with those countries, such as Russia, where organized Christianity is being persecuted. It is well-known that this persecution of a few years ago was brought about, in part at least, and the Church was being rejected because she failed to represent the true Christian spirit. One wonders if the Church, now that it has another opportunity, will represent this true Christian spirit. Will she be herself and present Christ and Christian ideals in such a way as to interest men of letters and inspire them to produce a purer lit¬ erature, to interest educators and inspire them to put into their educational pol¬ icies the principles which Christ taught, and to interest men in the government and inspire them to higher ideals of justice and honor. The Church viiich in such a large measure dominates the life of the people has another opportunity to change the present general feeling that on one side stands culture and politics and on the other religion, with little or no connection between them. A great Latin American said not long ago, "It would seem that God kept religion for Himself and handed politics over to man." The Church in Mexico has another opportunity to make it so that such statements as that cannot be repeated.
My friend, in telling me of progress his Church is making, invited me to the dedication of a part of a church that is being built here in Cuernavaca. The dedicatory services were to begin on Monday and last through Wednesday. I attended the last night, the crowning service. It was difficult to see what the elaborate
- 3 -
display of fireworks amid the playing by the band of lively music, some of pieces being those used to increase enthusiasm at tlie bull fights, had to do with the dedication of a church in T\iiich to worship God the Father in the name of Christ, Who came to give the everlasting Word which makes men free. One can but vronder Tftiiether the present opportunity will be seized to speak this everlasting Viford.
And what of the Evangelical Church? The recent meetings of the differ¬ ent Church organizations in their annual sessions remind us that there are Evange ical churches in Mexico. These have certain advantages over the Catholic Church.
They constitute a minority group, a decided minority group, something li.ce 100, JU in a population placed now at 20,000,000, and as such _ they are not tempted as is the larger group, to lay emphasis on numbers or material things. Since their loun ing they have placed the emphasis on the spiritual function of the Church and in speaking that everlasting Word which makes men free. It is much easier for them, having been founded by churches vihose traditions and practices have been and are to seek not temporal but spiritual power, to regard it as their patriotic duty no to attempt to control the government but to train citizens ^iho by pure lives an honorable conduct add to the greatness of their co\intry. I was in a meeting oi young people a short time ago when the subject was patriotism. One^of the speaKers emphasized the place the submission to God's will, a giving up of sin, the iv- ing of a life controlled not by the seciilar, but by the spiritual, has in the rue patriot. He asked the young people present to cast their eyes on the presen won , and stated that the trouble with the world is not Hitler, but sin and rebellion i the heart against God. A church that is raising up young people with those con¬ ceptions of life and duty is in a position of advantage. A country toat has at its heart groups of young people like that is a fortunate country. This for tmate situation for both the Church and the country has been brought about by the posi tion of the Evangelical Church as a minority group. It has_not been under the bondage of secular culture from which it needed to be emancipated. Here it has been and is freer to live its own life, and be itself. Here it can place first
things first.
There are certain advantages to the Evangelical Churdi in that it has suffered persecution. Those of all denominations are now helping to care for a company of their fellow Christians who were driven from their homes a few months ago on account of the religious convictions. This minority gTOup has not in t e past silenced her witness, is not doing so now, and will not in the future fail bear witness, if persecutions come, that they belong to God and will ever be loyal
Vfliile we call attention to the failure of the Catholic Churdi in Latin countries, express the fear that she vdll not now embrace the opportuni^ of being what the Church should be, we have nothing but love in our hearts for the Catholic people, and do not overlook the glaring unethical and un-Christian procedures on the^part of many perfectly orthodox Protestants in the United States; nor do we claim, by any neans, that the Evangelical Church in Mexico is a perfect Church but we caA say that her failure would have been great indeed if she has not given a TOod account of herself as a minority group, with the advantages which this has elven her. If she does not take advantage of present conditions and in a larger fnd better way fulfill her prophetic function of declaring that "cil have sinned and come short of the glory of God" and call men to repentance, she will mserably fail in her duty. The leaders of this Church v^ill be justly condemned, if at thi. time of industrial, commercial, educational, and national activity, having become aware by faith and experience that God loves men and seeks their regeneration, they do not actively serve Christ in His work of transforming men in accordance with the pattern revealed in Himself. One of the Leading Protestant pastors remrked a short time ago that he believes that there will result from the present world conditions
a broken hearted race of men, ready to receive that new life \vhich God offers in His Son, Jesus Christ, the Crucified and Risen One. The wish may have been father to the though. Our associations with the pastors and people of the Evangelical Church in Mexico leads us to believe that uppermost in their minds is the thought of the Church, and in their hearts a deep love for it, and an earnest desire that it may now and always be prophetic and regenerative.
There has always existed a community of spirit and interest betvreen the older churches in the United States and the younger churches in Mexico, ^ be- ^ cause of their common commitment to the Cause of Christ, and their oneness in Him, and these bonds should be strengthened as a greater friendliness grov.'S up between the two countries. V/hen at times the relations betvifeen tiie two countries were not as cordial as they now are, these churches would not let anything arise v/hich v/ould divide their hearts from one another, much more now these hearts should be more closely united in Christ. And at a time like this when there is a divided vforld, it is the task of the Church in these tvro countries and in all countries, knovring that Christ is Lord of all, and discerning her ovm status as the coramxinity of grace, the organ of God's redemptive purpose for mankind, to seek to know the will of God, to live in that vdll, and to malce that vdll prevail in all areas of life in all lands.
In all sincerity and love.
Received at Nashville, Temiessee, April lA, 1941 Address: Rev. Dr. W. A. Ross, Morelos 3, Cuernavaca, Mor., Postage: Letters three cents, post cards two cents
Mexico
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C 0 M M I T T E'i^-- O IT ’'■COOPERATION IN L A T I N’’"'- A M^E RICA
166 Fifth Avenue
New York City
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Report Letter from Dr. Gteohge ;F. Howard Evangelis t-at-Iarge in ■South'' America
(No part of this letter should be reproduced in the public press.)
• J’ . r- '•>
I . •_/
\
.’X t
Santiago, Chile April 1941
Dear Friends;
A Protestant Youth Conference was to be held in Lima, Peru, in February of this year. The young people of Brazil, Argentina, . Uruguay, Chile and of all other South end Central tries including Mexico, had been planning and preparing for this great gathering for over a year. Delegates, overcoming the o Itacles of distance and cost of travel, were already on their way from some of these Republics a thousand miles away., y^en suddenly the Peruvian government issued a decree making It nee cssary to get a government permit for conferences whose member¬ ship was to Include foreign delegates. For weeks the Roman Catholic press of Lima had been fighting this gathering of Protest^? young people. And this was the result. Through this government^decroe they hoped to hamstring the conxcrence.
The decree appeared only three v/eeks before the ^
the conference \;as to convene. And, if you know any S. getting government permits in South America, you know proverblSl snail’s pace is greased lightning compared with the
movements of these bureaus.
So there we were: delegates on their way and others ar¬ riving, and we still did not know whether there was going to be any coAferencel That is Perul And that is very largely the atLsphere of uncertainty in which we labor in some countries. You never know what sudden ^oing t
block your way. It certainly keeps you on ”qul vive and
awake I But one longs for an occasional respite. The devil, however, doesn't seem to believe in armistlcesi The organizing committee, of course, put in an immediate request for permission to hold the conference. The matter was passed from one govern¬ ment department to another.
The delegates arrived and on the date fixed the Conference convened, though no word had yet been received from the govern- ml7t. They expected every moment to see the police walk in and break up the meeting and arrest the leaders. But the days sliooed by and nothing happened. Finally, a few days after the Conference closed, tlie governinent gave
was refusedJ This is one case on record where officxo-.l dil^^tori ness redounded to the glory of Godl I consider the holding ol
2.
this conference a most encouraging sign and almost a miracle.
Here were the young people of Latin America, representing different denominations, some of them from countries separated by 2,000 miles of mountain jungles and rivers, and at a time when travel conditions are most difficult and when great divi¬ sive forces are arraying mankind in rival camps, - here were these young people, I repeat, coming together at a time like this, to strengthen their faith, to fortify the Ideals which bind them together and to agree on a united action and common attitude in the present crisis. This is, I thinl:, a sample of apostolic faith and prophetic religion.
I had not visited Peru for nearly five years. Political conditions made public meetings impossible. But friends finally wrote that restrictions were being relaxed and that the atmosphere vms more friendly. My program of meetings began with three ad¬ dresses in the fine auditorium of the Lima High School. My subjects v/ere: ’’Democracy and Christianity”, ’’Are We Too Civil¬ ized?” and ’’Things That Cannot be Shaken in a V/orld of Change.”
The attendance was excellent. One of the most influential diplo¬ mats, an ambassador representing one of the strongest South American governments, became very much interested. I had some very profitable conversations with him and other members of the embassy. But perhaps the oiitstandlng experience of this first series of lectures \/as the enthusiastic interest of a prominent Roman Catholic layman, head of one of the largest Peruvian insur¬ ance companies. He not only attended all my lectures and had me in his home to meet a select company of intellectuals, but he actually wrote to the Archbishop urging him to order his priests to attend my addressesl ”I don’t care what church you belong to”, he said to me, ’’your presentation of Christianity is what v/6 are needing here.”
As usual I spoke a number of times to the young men and women of our Mission schools; to the over five hundred young men of the Anglo-Peruvlan Presbyterian school and to the four hundred young v;omon of the Lima High School. V.'hat a glorious hearing one gets from this young life I What a promise for the future, if we can only stir up their sense of responsibility and av/aken in them a feeling of the need of Goal In one of these schools the problem of keeping these ©bulliunt young people quiet during the chapel service is sei'lous. So they have the habit of placing teachers in strategic positions in the aisles in order to spot any especially mischievous rascal I I refused to talk about religion in those conditions and asked the teachers to sit down and take it easy and to leave the students to me. Then I frank¬ ly said to the boys that if I did not have a message worth listen¬ ing to they wore free to show their disapproval and I would not afflict them any more. VJe had no trouble with the smart aloes I If they tried to start anything, tholr fellow students attended to them. I could not havo desired a better hearing than those young fellows gave mo.
In a short time I am to come back to Peru, but this time it will be with Dr. John R. Mott, who is visiting our work on
3.
the West Coast during this year. Before I close, let me express my slncerest recognition of the promptness and generosity with which some of you responded to the appeal contained In my last letter: that you make some small contribution to our Committee for ray travel fund. I am still carrying on thanks to your Interest. Blessings on youl But It Is remarkable how many of you put the matter off until "mahana", - and then forgot all about Itl South America’s "mahana" has arrived and I am sure that with this gentle reminder you will awaken from your siesta and do your bltt
Yours In His service.
Our Latin American Neighbors
By JUAN ORTS GONZALEZ*
A Marvelous Opportunity and a Momentous Responsibility presented to our Church. Will she respond nobly?
^ XHK Amfrican Hemi- to prepare the way for Latin-American intellectuals
Today more tha - , ‘ . extreme to receive the gospel, and secondly to promote
Irbe ^aUer“ThrNew World.” Mankind mutual understanding and real friendship benwen ”trge loot: » l.In.:s;i.:r. win, great aneie.y the Hispanic Rcpubl.cs and dre Un^d Stares. (H.s-
for the present and even greater expectation for the future. All the democracies of the world are convinced that, without the help of this con¬ tinent, and principally of the United States, tliey are doomed. Christianity, as well as democ¬ racy, is being violently at¬ tacked and wilfully calumni¬ ated in the recrudescence of tyranny and paganism exhib¬ ited by the totalitarian states. The Church as well as the State is involved in this tre¬ mendous struggle to protect our continent and to fulfill the expectations of mankind. In spite of our inexhaustible re¬ sources and our billions for armament, we shall be thwarted in our efforts if our continent is divided; for a divided con¬ tinent will offer to the totali¬ tarian states bases near-by for
Ur. Juan Orts Gonzalez
panic is the more correct des¬ ignation, because it takes in not only the republics speak¬ ing Spanish but also Portu¬ guese-speaking Brazil.)
Pages could be filled with cjuotations from statesmen, educators, newspaper and magazine writers of both North America and the His¬ panic republics, to prove the o-reat importance which they attach to the friendly solidarity of the American Hemisphere and to the part played in its achievement by the Good Neighbor Policy. Let me quote only Republican ex- President Herbert Hoover, in the United States; Carlos Da¬ vila, for a time President of Chile, once ambassador to the United States, and now chief editor of the greatest news- syndicate in Hispanic
, paper syndicate
tarian states bases near-by for America- and a very recent statement by Frederick
interference with our defence program. Foitunat > , ^ ’ president of the Pan American Society,
now and for the first time, we can say that the whole F._ Haslei, president ot^ tn
American hemisphere is united in purpose.
The man who writes these lines has visited almost all of the Hispanic republics; has attended, as dele¬ gate of our Church, the Protestant congresses of Panama, iMontevideo, and Havana; was for many years editor of La Nueva Democracia and, m that Opacity, kept up by frequent correspondence friendly relations with leading statesmen and editors of the Spanish republics; and now wishes to state emphatically that the friendly solidarity of this heinisphere is today not only a fact, but one beyond his expectations during the years he worked so hard for its accomplishment through the medium of La Nueva Democracia, which was published first
•Dr. Orts has been for twenty-eight years a member of 'he ^ m.ttee on Coiiiteration in Latin America with headquarter m New York City. At the present time he is working with the New City Mission.
MAY 1941
LldSiCl, iji - — 1 il
which is composed of leading men of both the United States and the Hispanic-American Republics.
With the head-line, hoover puts hope in the new world, Americas are Sanctuary for Ideals of Civilization, the NEW YORK TIMES of December 8, 1940, quotes the following from a broadcast by iMr. Hoover;
“There is something even more formidable than vvar and conquest which unrolls in Europe and Asia, \\ithin it is a sinister revolt against a civilization which is based upon liberty and religious faith. It is laying waste the moral and spiritual structure of mankind. . . . Here alone, in th New World, today remains the air which creative minds must breathe. Here alone remains free speech tree thought, free press, free worship. Here alone is the dignity of men and women still respected and protected.
The statement made over the radio recently by Sehor Davila was to this effect:
201
“For more than one hundred years. Uncle Sain was mis¬ trusted in Hispanic America, and in some of the republics hated. Today he is trusted and loved by statesmen, edu¬ cators, and the common people. Only some politicians, bought by foreign interests, hold out against him. He is now the hope of the world and of the Hispanic part of the American Hemisphere.”
THE NEW YORK TIMES heads its report of Mr. Hasler’s speech; new world held force for PE.4CE, Head of Pm: American Society says.Co- operation Among 21 Natiorts Creates Power.
The te.xt says:
Mr. Hasler asserted that 1940 would stand out as a great mile-stone in the history of Pan-Americanism. Everyone of the twenty-one republics of the Americas, he added, has of necessity a deeper appreciation of what Pan- Americanism really means and of its practical value to the entire Western Hemisphere in time of threatened danger. The dream of Simon Bolivar, the father of Pan-Ameri¬ canism, of a day when the republics of tbe New World would join hands for mutual protection, as well as for the development of cultural and commercial relations, is now a reality, he pointed out.
“By its purity of motive, righteousness of purpose, its strength and its solidarity, Pan-Americanism is today the strongest moral and defensive force for peace in a war- torn world,” he said. “This is because Christianity, de¬ mocracy, and Pan-Americanism have common ideals — they are one and inseparable.”
However, while agreement as to the fact and im¬ portance of the friendly solidarity of this hemi¬ sphere is so unanimous, it is far from being unani¬ mous as to which factors prepared the atmosphere for the emergence and growth of the Good Neigh¬ bor Policy, and which can crystallize it and make it increasingly the most vital and important foreign policy of the United States.
Many of the factors named by some dailies and writers have been in the past and will be in the future obstacles and misrepresentations rather than helps; as, for instance, our tourists, merchants, and moving pictures. Alany of our tourists give a shock to Latin Americans; many of our traders are hated there; and the moving pictures which we export to those countries are not at all a fair representation of North America. On my way as a delegate of our Church to the Congress of Montevideo, I made the acquaintance of a prominent Roman Catholic priest who, when I spoke to him of the man\' good things of the United States, said to me: “Why, then, do the moving pictures which you export to Hispanic America show only a country scarcely semi-civi- lized?” And just today, (January 22, 1941) some prominent men and women of Hispanic America expressed their bitter protest in the leading Spanish daily of New York, because many moving pictures misrepresent Hispanic America by emphasizing the worst and not the best of those countries. Gabriela Mistral, the Chilean poetess, unable to be present per¬
sonally in the Protestant Congress of Montevideo in 1925, wrote a letter to be read aloud in which she said: “What a different picture of North Amer¬ ica is s;iven by tourists, traders, and movies, from that given by North-American missionaries and edu¬ cators. The former create misrepresentation, mis¬ understanding, and sometimes hatred; while the latter create mutual understanding, admiration, and gratitude.”
Our politicians have done worse yet sometimes. The Big Stick Policy and the Dollar Policy aroused much enmity against the United States. The sending of marines to Santo Domingo, Haiti, and Nicaragua, provoked not only misunderstanding but real hatred of this country. Even the Monroe Doctrine, which was so warmly received by Hispanic America when it was proclaimed, later became hateful because some of our politicians applied it in such a way that A. Laurence Lowell, while president of Hansard Uni¬ versity, ironically said: “For some of our politicians, the Alonroe Doctrine and its application are equiva¬ lent to a declaration that the American Hemisphere is a hunting preserve on which only the United States has the right to hunt.” However, today we can rejoice in the Good Neighbor Policy, which embodies all the good points of the Alonroe Doc¬ trine but excludes the objectionable ones.
In this great accomplishment of the Good Neigh¬ bor Policy, it happens, as it usually does, that the real factors — because they are humble and self- sacrificing — are ignored; while the selfish boisterous, wordly-minded, and self-advertising factors are put to the front. No; the most efficient and powerful agencies in creating the basis upon which is now being built the Good Neighbor Policy are the Protestant primaiw schools, secondary schools, and colleges, and the humble missionaries going around preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ and being them¬ selves a visible and practical example of that gospel. Such institutions and such men are the factors which dispel the constant misrepresentations and calumnies of the totalitarian states which, by crafty, systematic, and widespread propaganda, have tried to present the L^nited States as a rotten democracy, as a debased country, as a utilitarian nation in which pleasure and the dollar are the only ideals. The spirit of self-sacrifice of those missionaries and the great and Christian help given by the Protestant educational institutions are the facts which have opened the eyes of millions of persons of all classes in the Hispanic republics to see a different and truer North America.
In turn, those same missionaries — by their writings and lectures on visits home — have exhibited a dif¬ ferent Hispanic America to their supporting con¬ stituency.
202
THE PRESBYTERIAN SURVEY
These two great services have been recognized by Professor William Spence Robertson, of the Uni¬ versity of Illinois, in his important book, Hispanic- Ainerican Relations with the United States, in the following paragraph:
“Those Protestant missionaries who have zealously preached and faithfully taught in Hispanic-America have served to make the citizens of that region and United States citizens better acquainted with each other; they have spread the Protestant faith and disseminated the educational ideas of the United States in Hispanic- American countries; and they have also conveyed to the United States a knowledge of Hispanic- American con¬ ditions, customs and ideas.”
Let us speak more concretely about what those missionaries have done:
(1) In regard to religion, the best justification of the Protestant missionaries is that, in countries in which the official church has almost displaced Christ as the center of worship and belief and has substi¬ tuted Mary and the saints, the missionaries are suc¬ ceeding in replacing Christ as that center; and that, in countries where the religious books and the preaching have been almost exclusively about saints and fictitious miracles and debasing superstitutions, the missionaries by their preaching and daily visiting and efforts are distributing and making known the gospel, which is the best and most practical means for establishing the real Christianity.
(2) Protestant missionaries have rescued from un¬ belief or have prevented from becoming unbelivers, a considerable number of prominent Hispanic- American .statesmen, educators and writers. To ap¬ preciate the importance of that work, let us hear what Kenneth G. Grubb, a great English scholar who knows Hispanic America so well, and has written a great many books on this subject, says:
“It is reckoned today that about a quarter of the popula¬ tion of Latin America is confessedly atheist or agnostic, while the religion of most of the remainder is hardly a vital factor in their conduct.”
We could give the names of scores of those whom Protestant influence has saved from unbelief in those republics, from iMexico to Argentina, and from Brazil to Chile; but I shall name here only two, Haya de la Torre from Peru, and Emilio del Toro from Puerto Rico. The first is so influential that, ac¬ cording to reliable information, lie receiyed a sweep¬ ing majority of yotes in the last presidential election. He is the leading man of one of the most interesting and comstructive political parties of Hispanic Amer¬ ica, known as apra, which means ^^Asociacion Popu¬ lar Revolucionaria Americana” . Long ago he said to an intimate friend: “I was not only an unbeliever, but I could not even hear the word ‘God’ without feeling a painful revulsion in my physical body.”
Today he is in deep sympathy with the gospel. The second is one of the most esteemed persons in Puerto Rico, the Honorable Emilio del Toro, highly respected by all; but could he keep his glowing faith alive without the vision of the gospel which Prot¬ estants gave him? The missionary teaching about separation of Church from State, tolerance and re¬ ligious freedoni, has given to such men a different view of Christianity from that enforced by the Roman Catholic hierarchy.
There are yet two more important services ren¬ dered by Protestant missionaries in Hispanic Amer¬ ica: (a) Wffierever the Protestant influence is felt, an awakening of the best which remains in the Catholic appears; new schools for the previously neglected poor are opened; new Sunday schools of the Roman Catholic type to counteract the influ¬ ence of the Protestant Sunday schools, are func¬ tioning; some better preaching is heard; even so¬ cieties of the type of Italian Cardinal Eerrari are established for the distribution of the gospel in some dioceses, with the approval of the bishops; “El Dia del Evangelio” (The Day of the Gospel) is cele¬ brated. Long ago a prominent Spaniard, Angel Ganivet, made in his book, widely read in both Spain and Hispanic America, Ideario Espanol, this .strong affirmation about the service which Protes¬ tants render to the Roman Catholic Church: “The Roman Catholic hierarchy ought to welcome the fact of scores of Catholic clergy becoming Prot¬ estants, to save the majority of the Catholic clergy from becoming utterly corrupt in religion.”
Dr. John A. Mackay in his excellent book. The Other Spanish Christ, quotes from a Erench abbe who visited Mexico in 1931 his opinion about Prot¬ estant missionaries, and then makes this reply to it: “The best thing which could happen in the spiritual life of the continent would be an increasingly strong Protestant movement, that would oblige the church (Roman Catholic) to put her house in order and get ready to fulfill her mission.”
Very recently, one of the most prominent Cath¬ olic priests of Brazil — and, by the way, a personal friend of Rev. Miguel Rizzo, whom many of our Presbyterians heard in Montreat three years ago — publiffied a book entitled. Should Roman Catholics Read the Bible?, in which he declares that almost no Catholic family has a Bible and — what seems to him more shameful — that Catholics, when they hear that someone reads the Bible, say: “You must be a Prot¬ estant, because only Protestants read the Bible.” This vv'riter also condemns many of the popular devo¬ tions not only as superstition but some as blasphemy. One is forced to ask. From where did he get that vision, if not from the teaching and practice of Protestant missionaries? (b) Likewise, our mission-
MAY 1941
203
ary work has helped greatly in the promotion of popular and better education. For two centuries the education of the poor and the common people in Hispanic America had been dreadfully neglected. Tlie great landlords and the Roman Catholic hier¬ archy felt like the slave-holders — the less the slave and the peon know, the better they can be handled for the purposes of their masters. So, it is no exag¬ geration to say that a great majority, perhaps 90%, of the poor had no primary schools even; and our missionaries opened the first primary schools for their education. In that respect, they fill an enor¬ mous need; and many of the governments welcome them for this reason. The most striking example of that need, and of the wav it is met by our mission¬ aries, is found in the schools of Rev. William C. Morris which, hy his will, he left to the govern¬ ment of Argentina. From Dr. Mackay’s, The Other Spimish Christ, 1 quote the following statement about those schools:
“Thirty years ago, Mr. Morris founded a school for poor children in the Argentinian metropolis. The work grew and the number of schools was multiplied. In 1930, 6,200 children were being educated in the Argentine Philan¬ thropic Schools; and 330 orphan bo vs and girls were housed in the new orphanage called ‘El Alim' (The Dawn.) In the course of those years (thirty), 140,000 Argentine children have passed through the l\lorris Schools, as they are familiarly known. ‘All for my God, my Country and mv National Government’ is their motto.”
What Rev. William Morris did on such a great scale has also been done on a smaller scale by our missionaries. Is not such work worth while?
Although the university man of Hispanic Amer¬ ica may know well Universal History, the General History of Literature, the General Flistory of Phi¬ losophy, and Esthetics, he lacks altogether the real and practical aim in learning. He studies to know and learn in order to be able to speak about general subjects; but the missionaries have taught their pupils to know and to learn, not only for the pur¬ pose of talking about these things, but principally for living by their knowledge and learning. The mis¬ sionary has given reality, practicability, and life to learning. This explains the fact that some of our schools and colleges have revolutionized and re¬ vitalized the teaching for better practical results in some of those countries.
Because our schools and colleges use more practi¬ cal and progressive methods, the leading and liberal- minded statesmen and the most enlightened educa¬ tors of those countries are friendly to us. For in¬ stance, Montalvo, in his famous, “Mercurial Eclesi- dstica” addressed to the Archbishop of Quito, quotes the gospel and follows the teachings of the mission¬ aries. Agustin Alvarez, the greatest of the Argen¬
tinian sociologists, states that the teachings of the Protestants are better than the teachings of the Roman Catholics. The contemporary sociologist of Argentina and one of the greatest today in His¬ panic America, Alfredo Colmo, expresses the same opinion. Manuel Gamio, the Mexican archaeologist and anthropologist, probably the greatest scholar in those two lines in Hispanic America, teaches the same; and Eugenio Maria de Hostos, the greatest sociologist and educator of the West Indies, de¬ clares in his book about Ethics that the moral teach¬ ings of Protestants are better than those of Roman Catholics.
If the Good Neighbor Policy is today so impor¬ tant that newspapers, magazines, educators, states¬ men and national governments, speak of and sympa¬ thize with it as something vital for this hemisphere and for the world at large; and if our missionary work has been and continues to be one of the great¬ est factors in opening the way for such a policy, does this not present a strategic opportunity for appealing to our constituency in particular and the American people at large, for moral support and economical help in carrying on our missionary enterprise in Hispanic America?
A MOAIENTOUS RESPONSIBILITY
It is providential that our Church has important missionary work in two of the most influential countries of Hispanic America; Brazil and .Mexico. These two republics, more than all the others com¬ bined, will decide whether the Good Neighbor Policy, which has started so well, shall grow and crystallize into something permanent and beneficial for the whole American hemisphere and even for the whole of mankind. Kenneth G. Grubb, the English scholar already quoted, in his most recent book published about four years ago, states plainly in the following quotation that Brazil and Mexico are going to be the leading countries in the Evangelical movement in Hispanic America:
“The Evangelical movement in Latin America will prob¬ ably look increasinglv to Brazil and Mexico, and less to the River Plate, for leadership in cooperation, new ex¬ periment, and fresh forms of approach to the masses.”
And in both countries we have ver)^ influential and important missions.
Brazil
Excluding Alaska, Brazil is a larger country than the United States. It has increased in population in the la.st decade about 11,000,000; while the United States has in the same time increased only between 7,000,000 and 8,000,000. Of our work in Brazil, a man whose name I am not free to mention but who
204
THE PRESBYTERIAN SURVEY
has spent many years in Hispanic America, who now has influential relations with all the Boards doing work in Hispanic America, and who recently visited Brazil, said to me not long ago: “The South¬ ern Presbyterian schools and colleges are a great national asset to Brazil, and they have prepared more national ministers of the gospel than any other institutions of Latin America.”
Again, I quote from Kenneth Grubb on special conditions of missionary work in Brazil and in Mexico:
“It is well recognized that the church is more firmly estab¬ lished, and is imbued with greater vitality in Brazil than in the Spanish-speaking republics; but in Mexico it is also showing a real enthusiasm for God in the face of the existing difficulties.
The church shows real evidence of all-round indigenous vitality in Brazil, and also in Mexico. In the other repub¬ lics work is hardly sufficiently advanced, although experi¬ ments of great value have been carried though in Peru and Chile.
The second is church cooperation in the field. This has reached its widest development in Brazil, with the organi¬ zation, in 1933, of the Evangelical Confederation of Churches among the leading groups with a community of a quarter of a million.
The Sunday-school movement has proved its worth to the churches, particularly in Brazil and Mexico, and it has been a method of genuine advance.
Probably the most promising literature centres today, al¬ though not necessarily the best equipped in material re¬ sources, are in Mexico City and Rio de Janeiro.”
Let us see about the needs of that huge country, as presented by her greatest Evangelical leader and one of the greatest of Hispanic America, Erasmo Braga, who died a few years ago:
“The situation prevailing among the large masses of purely Brazilian populations presents some great unsolved prob¬ lems. The condition of the illiterate native population of the latif undios and of the lowest classes in the slums of the urban centres is a challenge to educators, social students, and above all to Christian workers, and calls for continuous effort for the uplift of what amounts to four fifths of the population.
More than a hundred years of German immigration into south Brazil have led to a considerable Evangelical in¬ filtration in the southern states, wliere many Brazilians have also responded to the gospel. But fifteen millions, or one third of the population of Brazil, live in civil districts (municipios) where there is no Evangelical church; and in many other such districts the occupation is quite in¬ adequate.”
To the above statements can be added the fact that today, more than ever, Brazil is the country most open and most receptive to the gospel. As in¬ habitants of this American Continent, as citizens of the United States, and as members of the Southern Presbyterian Church, will we not fail in meeting our responsibility if we do not give generously to our Eoreign Mission Committee, in order that they may send more missionaries and equip better our
educational institutions in the great country of Brazil?
Mexico
Although the correspondents of our papers may think differently, for anyone who really knows the movements in Hispanic America, Mexico is one of the leading nations, and has a powerful influence in what the rest of that continent thinks, writes, and does. Many of those countries whose populations are largely Indian and mestizo, are looking at Mex¬ ico and imitating her, because they feel that Mexico is following the right way for uplifting the Indian population and assimilating it into the national life.
This great republic is about as large as Spain, Scandinavia, France, and Great Britain together; and has a population of 20,000,000, which makes it the second largest country in population of His¬ panic America.
In Mexico, as in Brazil, the Southern Presbyterian Church has important missionary work; and here, also, we have such a missionary as Dr. William A. Ross, who has w'ritten The Historic Reality of Jesus (La Realidad Histdrica de Jesus) which, in the estimation of the author, who has read many of the principal books about the same subject in different languages, is the best one of them all. We have women missionaries like Miss Katharine Gray, who is a great leader in the women’s organizations. We have many training centers for children, for young people, for ministerial students, and for evangelists. Our educational institutions have fur¬ nished to the government in the past many good teachers and other employees. Last May, the first continental congress in behalf of the Indian was celebrated in the center of our principal missionary region. The then President of the Mexican Republic, Cardenas, opened and addressed that congress; and the appointed and permanent secretary of the or¬ ganization was a Presbyterian, Moises Saenz.
In Mexico, as in Brazil, there is an open door for missionary work. Something has been developing there since the actual President took possession, which ought to stimulate our constituency; His E.xcellency, Avila Camacho, according to reports in the papers, has promised more freedom to all re¬ ligious institutions, both Catholic and Protestant; and has even gone so far as to state that he will pre¬ sent to Congress a project of law, according to which religious institutions will again be able to acquire rights of property.
The policy of sending so few missionaries to His¬ panic America, in comparison with the number ap¬ pointed to work in other continents, has been bad enough; but, not to increase now our missionary (Continued on page 20S)
MAY 1941
205
Photo by Thret' Lions.
Hahia, Brazil, is a city built on two levels, like Quebec. The business section lies at the level of the magnificent harbor. The residence section is on the cliff above. Here we see one of th public lifts connecting upper and lower town
The rise to do.min.\nce oe the Axis rowers in other parts of the world has brought home tt) the nations of the Western Hemisphere within the past few years that the Americas are the world s last re¬ maining lines of defense for civilization and culture, especially if Britain falls. Inter-American relations have consequently advanced at an almost phenome¬ nal rate towards a uniting against a common enem\- across the sea. Thus the"e\Tr-growing cooperation among the American republics is not due to a sudden wave of neighborliness and sweetness and light; it is for protection. A common threat is driving \\ ash- ington away from its old exclusive attitude, just as it "is compelling Buenos Aires, Bogota, and other Latin- American capitals to overlook for the moment their conventional fears of Yankee imperialism. The Christian job should be to help place these relation¬ ships on a sounder, more lasting footing.
So the present American situation is explained by Dr. Samuel Guy Inman, who was Secretary Hull’s adviser at the Buenos Aires conference, and one of the best-informed authorities on Latin-American re¬ lations. His life work of specializing in this field has led him into virtually every phase of activity — re¬ ligious, social, diplomatic, educational. He has lec-
Christian
Pan-Americanism
By GUY EMERY SHIPLER, JR.
Do you know —
How Columbia University lost a 65,000 vol¬ ume library of international importance which is now proving of great aid to Berlin?
How our ill-considered attitude of superiority insults Latin-American intellectuals?
The difference between a political dictator¬ ship, socially democratic, and a totalitarian dictatorship?
tured at Latin-American universities, founded and edited magazines, been a key man at most of the re¬ cent Pan-American conferences, and written some fifteen books on Latin America.
In a recent interview with the writer. Dr. Inman explained how the Christian churches of the United States can contribute to the furthering of sound Pan-Americanism, emphasizing that this country has today an unparalleled opportunity to bring about a genuine neighborliness, based on cultural exchange. We have an advantage today over the Axis, be¬ cause Latin America believes we are a lesser threat than Hitler to her independence. Realistically, this is the reason she is playing along \\ ith us. By careful planning we can change that reason to one of brotherhood.
But that, according to Dr. Inman, is the rub — we are not careful. People of the United States know little about Latin America, and in their ignorance often do more to prevent real Pan-American solidar¬ ity than to promote it. Even the churches are guilty of this lack of understanding of the culture and tra¬ ditions of our neighbors. This is unfortunate, be¬ cause the churches could do much to promote Pan Americanism, whose true basis is international brotherhood. Dr. Inman emphasizes that action through government is of first importance. If that action is wrong, then all Christian efforts of the peo¬ ple belonging to that government will be limited.
Therefore “diplomacy should be Christianized.”
It must be remembered that when large and
206
THE PRESBYTERIAN SURVEY
powerful nations make overtures to smaller coun¬ tries, the latter are understandably suspicious. In these days, especially, foreign domination is a night¬ mare. Dr. Inman deprecates any announcement that churches in the United States are planning a great “evangelistic campaign” in Latin America. Not be¬ cause the Christian message is not needed and wel¬ comed by many Latin Americans, but because that kind of 'approach would be interpreted by Latin Americans as a use of religious elements to aid in securing trade, military bases, and other dominance.
“What Latin Americans would like to see our Christian forces do,” said Dr. Inman, “is first of all to make our Christianity effective in all normal re¬ lations wdth them — and, if you please, effective in our own social and economic life. Any preaching down at our neighbors, a ‘rescue the perishing’ atti¬ tude, will be resented. They believe that in many things they are the ‘spiritually minded’ and w’e are more interested in material things.”
The way is open today for the churches to in¬ fluence better relations between Latin America and the United States through practical means, such as schools, for example. Church schools there have met this test most acceptably. Dr. Inman says. Already some of them are more thoroughly adjusted to the Latin-American psychology than is realized here. “They are just good schools emphasizing character development, which means they are Christian schools.” Each new' school run on this basis of co¬ operation, understanding, and equality with Latin ,\mericans, binds them more firmly to the L’nited States and our Christian people.
That w'ord “equality” is essential. “We must get out of our minds the idea that Latin Americans are inferior to us,” said Dr. Inman. He suggested that all direct Christian work be run on the same basis as it is in this country: the people should be treated as equals. Workers sent to Latin America should be¬ fore they go be thoroughly imbued with the mean¬ ing of its civilization, know the cultural background and understand completely the temperament and traditions of the people.
The churches could make what Dr. Inman feels w'ould be a most valuable contribution to Latin America’s confidence in the United States through translation of good literature. “Great American books — not propaganda, nor theological books, nec¬ essarily. Things that explain what James Truslow' Adams calls the American dream. Let them know we too are dreamers and have ideals — and explain w'hat these are.”
The finest scholars w'C have should go south, as specialists in their fields of science, history, philos¬ ophy, literature — not as propagandists. “The man’s character would be wTat counted, not so much as
to whether he preached his Christianity. The churches must realize the important thing is the in¬ filtration of the character and spirit rather than special doctrine,” said Dr. Inman.
But before any of this can be done adequately, Christian people must inform themselves about Latin America. This is fundamental to any contribu¬ tion by the churches, in Dr. Inman’s view'. The atti¬ tude of the people in the United States is naive to an astonishing degree. The habit we have of look¬ ing upon Latin Americans as museum pieces rather than as human beings has led to many stupid blun¬ ders on our part.
As an example of how we make the situation more difficult for ourselves, Dr. Inman tells the story of his friendship with a brilliant professor of sociology of the Lhiiversity of Buenos Aires. This man’s 65,- 000 volume private library gave evidence of his keenness in the pursuit of knowledge. Some seventy volumes written by himself showed one way he had put his learning to use. One day Dr. Inman asked its owner. Dr. Ernesto Quesado, what he planned to do with this great collection of books. After a long discussion the good professor said he would like to present the library to one of our universities, pro¬ vided the university would give it a separate place, retain it intact, and appoint him in his declining years as its keeper. Dr. Inman returned tf) the Lffiited States and rushed to his Alma iMater, Columbia Uni¬ versity, to announce this great gift.
But Columbia said their library plan would not allow' them to accept a gift unless it was given over entirely to the university’s library. Columbia lost the wonderful collection, and the library today is housed in one of the most magnificent buildings in Berlin, owned by the Gennan government. Said Dr. Inman: “It provides a center for investigations which are behind the great propaganda that Ger¬ many is sending out to all the Spanish-speaking peo¬ ples of the world.”
Likewise Dr. Inman recalled the enthusiasm shown by some Chilean boys he met on the boat w'hen he w'as returning to this country last fall. They w'ere on their way to attend universities here, and thrilled at the thought. But three months later they would have gone back home, if it w'ould not have reflected on their country, so embarrassing had been their experiences. Eor instance someone of¬ fered them tickets to a concert in Carnegie Hall, ex¬ pensive tickets which, it was intimated, they should appreciate, because it would be a “wonderful privi¬ lege” for Chileans to go to a high-class musical. No one seemed to know that in Chile the finest concerts are often given free, in the plazas. Often the Chilean peasant knows more about music than the average college student in the United States.
MAY 1941
207
“We must not take our views of Latin America from the newspapers,” warned Dr. Inman. “News¬ paper reporters aren’t historians; they pick out the news — and the most sensational events are real news.” The things that count most never appear in the papers.
“Our press,” says Dr. Inman, “has shown its in¬ eptitude by its reports on Mexico in the past six months.”
It will be recalled that the papers predicted there would be revolutions in that country at the time of the election, last summer, at the time the Mexican congress met, and when Cardenas handed over con¬ trol of the government. None of these revolutions came to pass, but the predictions managed to keep thousands of people away from Mexico. “The press proved itself a false guide,” said Dr. Inman. “But the next time they start such reports the public will forget about the past and gulp it all down again.”
United States papers also distort the picture when they harp continuously on the dominance of the Nazis in South America. Dr. Inman says they are strong there, but that the United States is also. “We are not asleep. We know every move that is made down there by the Nazis.”
Congress has about as hearty a case of ignorance as anyone else in the country. Dr. Inman stated that when he came through the Panama Canal in Sep¬ tember he was tremendously impressed with the wonderful way it was defended. “But two days after I got home I received a circular from a Con¬ gressman saying that the canal was utterly defense- fess.”
According to Dr. Inman, any group which claims that the La'tin-American nations are dictatorships.
undemocratic, and so should not be included in an international union of democracies, seem to be un¬ able to see any difference between a strong govern¬ ment, minding its own affairs, trying to solve its own problems, and a totalitarian dictatorship. It is taken for granted that because a government head has strong powers he is allied with Hitler against the United States. Dr. Inman says such an assump¬ tion is based on ignorance of the history and back¬ ground, as well as present conditions in Latin Amer¬ ica, and he believes this to be highly dangerous. If Latin- American political democracy has been slower than ours; their social democracy. Dr. Inman says, is at times ahead of that in the United States. As for race prejudice, one of our great anti-democratic practices, one would need to look hard to find traces of it in Latin America.
These are examples of the sort of thing that ig¬ norance is doing to prevent continental solidarity — a solidarity vital to our defense and possibly to the very survival of all that hold sacred for life. The church can help to overcome these drawbacks through education and proper action. It is impor¬ tant to note that Dr. Inman’s emphasis is on the cul¬ tural side of our relations with Latin America, a phase of deepest interest to the churches. As a mat¬ ter of fact, he describes the Latin-American con¬ cept of life as often more spiritual than material, an appreciation of which is essential before the more practical-minded people of the L^nited States can understand their southern neighbors. The churches can contribute much to correcting the harmful ma¬ terialistic approach to our neighbors, which at times even tries to “sell” our culture by high power sales methods.
Our Latin American Neighbors
( Continued frofti page 20$ )
efforts in the countries to the south of us, would result in real religious tragedy. Mr. Grubb says:
“A study made recently of the record of 12,734 mission¬ aries, representing four leading American boards, cover¬ ing the period 1812-1928, showed that 7** per cent had gone to South and Central America compared with 24 per cent to India, 23 per cent to China, and 7 per cent to Africa. It must be remembered that American missions represent nearly 90 per cent of the total missionar\ ac¬ tivity in Latin America, but a vastly smaller proportion in Africa. The same study showed that Latin America holds the undesirable position of having the highest ‘rate of withdrawal.’ Eight per cent of the total missionary
force of these four boards retire annually.”
Our country is spending, and is going to spend, billions of dollars in self-defense and in helping England and other democracies to fight the totali¬ tarian states. A few millions given to a more in¬ tensive Evangelical work in Hispanic America will mean in the Tong run a stronger continental solidar¬ ity and a better Good Neighbor Policy. Will not oiir Church, as a work of patriotism and as a Chris¬ tian duty, respond nobl\' in this tremendou.s emer¬ gency?
208
THE PRESBYTERIAN SURVEY
THE CHRIST OF THE ANDES
Notes on a Supposed Inscription Thereon.
By
Webster E. Browning
On March 1 3, 1904, on the boundary line
between Argentina and Chile, an imposing s a ue of "Christ the Redeemer was dedicated ihe erection and dedication of this monument y ncials of Church and state of the two countries signalized the conclusion of a treaty by which long-impending war was definitely j
peace signed which has been scrupulously obser e .
This statue still stands on its rocky 12.000 feet above the sea, and is a J'?
tribute to the triumph of reason
frequent recourse to arms in the settlement of international misunderstandings.
Thus far, no doubt, there will be no difference of oohlion in regard to the simple facts stared. But in recent years, there has developed an interesting discussion relative to an inscription wS "t has been declared, was placed on the monument and read as follows:
“Sooner shall these mountains crumble to dust
than shall Argentines and Christ
peace which they have sworn at the feet ot const
the Redeemer”.
The writer of these lines believes that no such inscription has ever been placed on the monu- ment.'^and bases his conclusion on the following
1 A careful examination of a large collection of excerpts from the leading PaPJ^s magazines
of America and Europe, in a half-dozen langaa- oes referring to the dedicatory exercises and giv- fng r detailed description of the entire monm ment, has revealed no single reference to the supposed inscription.
2 . No photograph taken at the time of the dedication or since, shows this inscription.
3. A volume of 3 00 pages, in the Spanish lan¬ guage, and another in French,‘both of ®
the history of the monument and the story of its dedication, are altogether silent on this point.
t A declaration made by the distinguished
lady, still living in Buenos Aires w^o originator of the movement to erect the statue and due to whose activity the plan was carried to a happy conclusion, denies the existence, at any time, of the inscription.
5 The indisputable fact that it is not now on the monument, although no satisfactory ex¬ planation has been given of its possible disap- pearance.
What, then, is the origin of the widely- circulated story of the inscription. - in bron.,e. according to some who claim to have in the granite of the base according to other eye-witnesses.
Replying to this question, it may be said that the first reference to such an inscription, so tar as may now be determined, is in a
from the pen of the Rev. J. A. Zahm, a man of great learning and the author of several hooks on matters pertaining to South America. He had the unusual privilege of accompanying Theodore Roosevelt on his famous journey the continent, in 1 9 1 3 - 1 9 1 4, and his volume, descriptive of the
title. “Through South America s Southland , was published in 1916.
But father Zahm did not, personally, visit the statue and, therefore, was obliged to others for information. In the mass that must have been given him. he would lind the descripUon of the dedication of the statue and in it would read the eloquent address of the bishop of Ancud, of Chile, delivered at the Hme of the dedication, whose peroration closed with the words since erroneously attributed to an inscription. ^
It was a very excusable mistake, especially lor one who, in all probability, did not possess an exact knowledge of the Spanish tongue, and that mistake has been trustfully passed on by almost every writer since that time who has atternpted to dLcribe the lands that lie under the Southern Cross I
The compelling sentiment expressed in the words might well be inscribed, m lf‘fors of gold, on this majestic statue of the Prince of Paace. But the cold and neutral facts indicate that they were not so inscribed.
^ THmitia THIS *
U]/y jLLuft/'
thihkihg rms M,y ,,nnssr you,
S. 0, INMAN.
Paraguay
“ The Heart of South America”
By Webster E. Browning. Ph. D.
Educational Secretary of the Committee on Co-operation in Latin America
Ki
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SCHOOL BOYS OF ASUNCION, PARAGUAY. The children of a nation are its hope for the future.
Published by the Christian Woman's Board of Missions College of Missions Building Indianapolis, Indiana
Price, 6 cents each; 50 cents per dozen.
X
Foreword
Dr. Webster E. Browning, tlie author of this pamphlet, is the newly elected Education¬ al Secretary for South America, of the Com¬ mittee on Co-operation. lie is one of the most successful missionary educators that has ever gone to Latin America. For more than twenty years he was Director of the Iiislituto Ingles, of Santiago de Chile, lie look the school when it had run do«a\ to practically nothing, and left it one of the most successful boys’ boarding schools in S].aiiish .America. Tlic Disci])les of Christ are fortunate in having him go with their ileputation that visited Paraguay in August of 1017, to investigate the field and outline the best way to begin this work. Alessrs. Reavis, Morton and the under¬ signed, who made the trip at the same time, are entirely in harmony with the views ex¬ pressed in this pamphlet, and trust that it will stir our people to take vigorous action for preaching the Gospel to Paraguay, one of the most needy fields on the earth.
Samttei. Guy I.nm.an.
2
PARAGUAY
“The Heart of South America’'
By Webster E. Browning, Pn.D. Educational Secretary of tlie Committee on Co-operation in Latin America
'T'HE Republic of Paraguay lias well been called ‘•The Heart of South America,” One of the tu-o countries of the South American continent which has no seacoast, it lies well up in the interior, far removed from the busy modern life of the coast towns and cities, living its own hermit-like life and working out its own ilestiny in its own peculiar way.
^ To reach La Asuncion, the capital of the Uepublie and its largest city, the traveller mii.st take a river steamer in Buenos Aires, the magniticent metroixilis of Latin America, and, leaving modern life and conveniences be¬ hind, travel for five days and nights up the great Parana and Paraguay Rivers. Yet this journey, in spite of the absence of many con¬ veniences found on the ocean-going steamers is comfortable and safe and may be made one of the most interesting and helji'ful e.\periences of tlie world traveller.
Up the Rivers to Asuncion Leaving Buenos Aires on a Monday morn¬ ing, Ics.s than twenty-four hours brings the
3
ste-amcr into Kosurio, the sihmiikI city of the Argentine Kepuhlic, whore a stop of a few hours is made for tiie loading or discharging of tlie ship’s cargo. After leaving Kosario and Parana, mostly small villages are swn along the river banks wnl the jungle stretches off into the interior where roiuu stani-civilizcd and even savage trilK'S of Indians who retire ever farther inhuid before the advent of the listed and dreadisl white man.
Along the low lying shores, in the sandy or grass-covcriHl reaches, may la* seen nnmhers of i/amres, or .South .\merican crocialiles, basking in the snn ; birds of gaudy plumage flash among the trees; parrots scream and monkeys cha’tter among the foliage; tlowers of all hues of the rainbow hang in a riot of cidor from the high trees; and in the lagoons and quiet stretches of the river giant wading birds solemnly watch the steamer as it noisily con¬ tinues its journey to the regions beyond.
•lust above the interesting city of t'orrientes the steamer leaves the I’aranft Kiver ami enters the Paraguay, and. on the fifth day of the journey, if all has gone well, swings around the la-st jutting promontory and brings the traveller into full view of La .'\suncion. The dock is ((uickly reachisl, the customs passed, and the traveller sisin finds himself in the streets of the caidtal of Paraguay, one of the oldest and most interesting of all the Latin- American cai>ital.s. Fniuiulerl in l.‘)38 it has figured in a greait part of the history of this part of the tiontinent. Tlnaigh small and ly-
4
CUSTOM HOUSE. Asuncion, Paraguay.
ing far in the interior, the country has given unquestionable proofs of the bravery arid pa¬ triotism of its sons on many a hard-fought battlefield, and against overwhelming odds ami resources. Of the justificatiori of miuiy of its war-s, there may be an honest doubt ; but no one questions the bravery and willing self- sacrifice of the bare footed siddiers of Para¬ guay in defense of what may have Ireen a mis¬ taken ideal.
Outline of History
In a certain sense, Paraguay may be said to be a nation without a history; its past has, the rather, been a tragedy in five acts, and the men who have played the principal parts have lasm but few in number.
The first act was tin? stormy jicriod of the (Vuiqiiest in which the .Siianiards fought with the savage Indian tribes, and, disjiosscssing them of their heritage of the centuries, plant¬ ed in the heart of tlie continent the flaming colors of the Catholic Kings of Castile and Aragon.
In the second act, the Colony freed itself from S|>anish rule and proclaimed its right to a free and independent existence. The principal actor of this period and of the suc¬ ceeding twenty-five years was the most famous and mo.st discusseci man of Paraguay, the iron- handed Dictator, Dr. C&rlos Francia, who ruled the country from 181G to 1840, and laid down his hard-grasped scepter of jmwer only when touched by the finger of death.
6
I
IN A PARAGUAYAN MARKET i>r. Browning: in center.
'J’he third a(d is cokM'iiiinDiis with llie nilo Ilf tiu! I>i(dat(ir, CArliis Aiitiiiiiii hopcz, vvliii ruled less des2i<>ti<ally than his iirralccessor, from IS-ll lo IStiS, and who did imiih toward liriiiging Paraguay into line with the eiviliza- tion and progress of his day.
lie. was followed by his son, Franeisco Solano Lopez., generally known by his military title of marshal, during whose dictatorial rule the country was plungial intn one of the bloodiest wars (hat are recorded on the {rages of history. .\l the beginning of the conflict the total j>o{iulation of Paraguay was estimated at one million. When the curtain went down on this fourth act and Paraguay had been throttled by the allied armies of Argimtina, Hraz.il and Uruguay, tliere remaimsl but 2.'5(l,00() inhabi¬ tants, and of this number only 2S,(MI0 were males.
The fifth act may be called the Keconstrue- tion Period. It Iregan with the death of Lo{>cz, the dictator, on the battlefield on the banks of the Aqnidaban in 1S70, and continues until the {rresent time.
Pew countries of the world have Imhui so rent and e,vhausted by war, Ixrth foreign and civil, and few are trying so earnestly to atone for a stormy past by the aasiduous cultivation of the arts of peace.
Contrary to the policy of its departed Dic¬ tators, the {lublic men of the modern Para¬ guay eagerly take advantage of every opjKir- tunity of helpful contact with the outer world.
8
■The Devil’s Throat”— Part of the Falls of Iguassu. Between Argentina and Brazil.
Courtesies Extended to Visitors
On a rwent visit ti> Asuneion, our party (consisting of S. G. Inman, T. F. Reavis, G. Manly Morton and tlie writer) was so for¬ tunate as to carry letters of introduction to a number of public men, among them an ex¬ president of the Republic. The reception of these letters involved no responsibility what¬ ever, beyond the small courtesies incident to such occasions. Hut, not content with tliis, a high govermnent official was detailiHl to ex¬ plain all matters of interest; automobiles were placed at our disposition; official report of ■Ministries and Departments were secured for ns; we were received in si>ecial audience by His Excellency Don Manuel Franco, the I’resi- dent of the Republic, and by the Ministers of Slate; atid, above all else we were made to appreciate to the full, as we had often ex- IX'rieneed it before in other countries of South America, the courteous consideration and treatment accorded the foreigner who comes in a sympathetic spirit to study with his Latin brother the problems common to both -Americas.
Among the centers of special interest that were open to us were the private arcliives of the government. These are, in some respects, the most valuable in South America, especially from a historical standpoint. No complete or exact history of the colonial jieriod of this great region of South .America could lie writtcTi without a careful consultation of the other¬ wise inaccessible facts found in this collection
10
and wliose treasures are still practically \in- tmiclKMl. In spite of the disasters of war, iiuuniscripts and documents have been pre¬ served which would be eagerly studied by the modern historian were they included among the treasures of better known and more ac¬ cessible archives. Often carried about the country in ox-carts, following this or that victorious or retreating army, preserved al¬ most miraculously from destruction and theft, these documents may yet be of help in the interpietation of the past four hundred years of American history.
Public Improvements in Project
But the traveller who visits Paraguay to¬ day, will be more interested in the plans for the future than in these records of its past. “This is a project of the O-overnment” is a phrase which he will often hear repeated by government officials. Plans for many new buildings are shovm, and among them school houses, orphanages, asylums, a penitentiary, a modern university', patterned after those of the United States; and splendid parks and boulevards for the beautifying of the capital. A splendid Botanical Garden, embracing sev¬ eral hundred acres, has already been laid out, inchuling the ancient house and grounds of the Dictator, Lopez. Due to the climate and the unus\ial fertility of the soil of this region of Paraguay, this should come to l>e one of the most useful gardens of the kind in all the world, (lonsiderable work has already been
11
done ill tlie planting and cataloguing of plants — more than fifteen luindrc<l species of trees and shrubs having been set out along one of its principal avenues.
A Zoological Garden has also been begun and a number of strange and unusual animals, yet common to this part of the ivorld, have been gathered and are being cared . for tinder conditions hut little difl'erent from those of their wild life.
It is true that most of the plana mentioned above, as yet are only to be found on pa [ter. The su|K‘rficial observer, prejudiced against all things .South American, might contimiptuously dismiss them as mere paper projia-ts. unworthy of further consideration. Vet no one may come into intimate touch with the Paraguayan ptMijile, and in particular with that compara¬ tively small group of progressive men on whom has been laid the resjionsibility of the future development of the country, without hiK-oming convinced that many of these plana will pres¬ ently become a risility. The day of war and rapine seems to have passed. The Paraguayan mottiii today is “xurnuni ronla.”
Agricultural Products
The greatest guarantei' of the future pros- jierity of Paraguay is to be found in the ex¬ traordinary fertility of its soil and the vast extent of its tillable lands which, as yet, have been scarcely touche<l by plow or spade.
Only within recent years have the agri¬ culturists begun to employ modern methods
12
of farming, instead of trusting to mother nature to give her fi’uits unassisterl by the liand of man. The “yerba mate” or Paraguayan tea, for example, has been cultivated only in very recent years, although its collection and export have formed one of the country’s prin¬ cipal industries. The annual production has exceeded 2,500,000 jaiunds, and has provided employment for thousands of men and women. This tea is fast taking the plac-e of coffee and the China or India tea in many countries, out¬ side of South America, and the world war will ■still further contrilmte to its dissemination and ])einianent adoption.
Rice, sugar and cotton are also being culti- vatral as never before ami the re.sults, both as to (piajitity and qualit}’, prove that the soil and climate of Paraguay are admirably adapt¬ ed to their pr<Mluction. Only recently ten thousand sacks of sugar were shipixxl out of the country, and the (piality and color of the product, as we have .seen it., would compare, favorably with the sugar produced in the United States or im]xirted from the West Indies or Hawaii.
The low lands lying along the gi'eat water courses are admirably suited for the cultiva¬ tion of rice, and the somewhat sandy uplands have produced enormous crops of cotton. The official reports indicate 1,200 pounds per acre as the ordinary crop that may be expected from the customary cidtivation of the cotton plant. Intensive cultivation according to mod-
13
oni mc-tliods, would f:i(‘i>tly innoaso (Ida al¬ ready Hiirprising resiiH.
But it is in tJic cultivation of fruit that Paraguay may rival the world. The soil and climate, united to the intelligent efforts of man, would ensily eoiivert the whole country into a va.st fruit orchard, capable of supply¬ ing the ever increasing demands of the large cities near at hand, and, with inorlern facilities of shipping, of reaching even the far-off mar¬ kets of Europe.
The orange tree, in particular, seems to have found in Paraguay, the. soil and climate bi^st suited to its natural growtli, and here it nour¬ ishes iind jn’oduce.s its load of golden fruit with a prodigality that can hut impre.ss the stranger who doiw not know the country. The forests and jungles are aglow with the fruit, of the wild variety, and with little or no scien¬ tific cultivation the domestic species produces thousands of tons of an unusually delightful fruit that is eagerly sought after in the mar¬ kets of Buenos Aires and Montevideo, where it is fa.st supi)lanting that which was formerly brought from Brazil. So plentiful are orsuiges that a carload of .5,000 may be boi;ght, first¬ hand, for about four dollars American gold. Near almo.st every railway station along the lines that cross the country, are seen great piles of this splendid fruit, and the passenger who will may heljr himself without money or price. The exportation for a recent year amounlerl to something over 150,(M)0.000 oranges. Steamers loaded oidy with this glow-
14
iiig fruit linsteii down the river Paraiiil to unload (heir cargo into the markets of Buenos Aires.
Owing to tlie Idtherto unsettled conditions of the country districts, cattle raising is but in its infancy, although few regions in the world offer such natural advantages for the prosecution of this important industry. A fellow American, a veteran “cow-man,” who has worked the ranches of his native Texas and of the neighboring republic of Mexico for many years, declared that he had never found any locality so admirably adapted for cattle raising as the vast plains of Paraguay. With abundant water and nutritious grasses, these plains should be covered at an early date with cattle which will eventually find their way to Europe via the packing establishments, which are being established by North Ameri¬ can capitalists. At present there is a bovine population of some 6,000,000, practically all destined to exportation as frozen meat.
Hindrances to Progress
So much for the natural advantages and the future possibilities of the coimtry. Let us now oomsider some of the conditions which have impeded progress in the past and which must be overcome before Paraguay may be¬ come a strong and influential nation.
One of these obstacles, common to othei- Latin-Americnn countries, is the system of “Uitifmdw.” Enormous tracts of land have been securei! in the past, generally by foreign-
L-i
ol's, ajid are lield today, aiid even added to at tlie exjwnse of tlie general development of the country. One may travel for an entire day along the great water routes and find that all the land seen on this or that side, if not on both, belongs to one man, and that from this immense water front it stretches for many leagues into tlie interior, embiacing forest and pasture lands of an almost incalculable future value, iilany such nu*n tlo not seem to know tlie e.\tent of their Iioldings, but it is not unconinion to learn of tracts that cover Jiundreds of square leagues of lerritory, while •some exlend even into tlie tlioiisaiids. tine such estate, riMantiy probaiial, contained fipiir (liousaiiil s(|uare leagues of laud -(that is, it was about tlie .size of the State of Indiana).
The use of a depreciated curreiicy lias kejit out foreign ca])if.al ami the government is now attl'mpting to put its finances on sucli a basis a.s will insure iiivestmeiit.s and attract in¬ vestors. The result of the present monetary jl’k. « system may lie seen in the surprising prices
tliat prevail. Some of the most common qmi- tatioiis, taken down at random, are as fol-. fT lows: Hotel, per day ,$110; street-car fare, $1.00 to $2..50, according to distance; cine¬ matograph, $20.00; imported shoes, .$450.00; shoes made in the country, $250.00; hats, $120.00 to .$250.00; daily paper, $1.00; bar of soap, $15.00; tooth brush, $15.00; cup of tea or coflfee, $5.00; sugar, pound, $4.50; cof¬ fee, pound, $10.00; flour, $460 per 110 pounds; dinner in dining car, $25.00; bed in Pullman,
16
$88.00; railway fare, per mile, $1.C0; etc. These jirices may he reduced to American gold by dividing by 35 — this Ireing the equivalent of a dollar at the time of our visit to Asuncion. That is equivalent to saying that, by taking $30,000 American gold into Para¬ guay, one may at once be converted into a millionaire.
DR. BROWNING IN A PARAGUAYAN HOSPITAU.
M(*st of these children are syphilitics.
Eleemosenary Institutions It is mainly due to the lack of funds that the asylums, hospitals and other benevolent institutions leave so much to be desired in their equipment and management. The ap-
17
palling conditions under which the unfovt\i- _ nate men and women live, who depend (m public charity for the mere extension of life, are revealed by a visit to the “Home for In¬ digent Women.” With these poor unfortunates, whose only crime is that of poverty, are min- gleil the women who have lost their reason or who have never been other than mental de¬ ficients. The gibbering idiot eats from the same plate with the woman of gentle birth who can no longer care for herself and has no one who will fend for her. Few sights have 1 si-en in many years of travel through the neglected places of the earth that left me with such a sinking of heart, such intense de¬ sire to help bring in that Kingdom which will change the. existing order of things and give to the weary and heavy laden a rest fnmi their labors.
In nearby yards, that are little better than kennels, are confineil, in seimratc divisions, the violently or hopelessly insane. The conse¬ crated Sisters of ISIercy, to whom is confided the care of these unfortunates, do their best to alleviate their sulTerings, but this is^ little. Forgotten of nuui, ami, seemingly, of God, )u the midst of conditions which, fortunately they can not fittingly appreciate, they merely exist until such time ns the pitcher be broken at the fountain and their spirits return unto God who gave them. But of all the rc.sidents of Paraguay, none deserve such unstintial praise as these same Sisters of Mercy who spmul their lives ministering to their unfor-
18
t.iinat(“. hrothpv.s and sisters. Surely llieir re¬ ward hi heaven will he great.
Educational System
Because of the unsettled condition of the country and the consequent lack of funds and prepared teaeher.s, the educational conditions of Paraguay leaves much to he desired. It was our impression, however, that the Gov¬ ernment is now giving more attention to the development of this important branch of the public service than to any other. The fol¬ lowing table of statistics taken from the official I'eports of 1915, will give the reader an idea of fho progress made from 1909 to 1919:
Primaky Instruction
|
No. of |
No. of |
No. of |
|
|
Year |
Schisds |
Tenchers |
Students |
|
1909 |
338 |
800 |
40,259 |
|
1910 |
508 |
987 |
52,200 |
|
1911 |
354 |
929 |
49,240 |
|
1912 |
5G3 |
1,071 |
44,618 |
|
1913 |
595 |
1,293 |
68,625 |
|
1914 |
G04 |
1,377 |
71,324 |
|
1915 |
1,049 |
1,484 |
74,245 |
|
The |
alsive figures include both |
the national |
and the private schools which give primary in¬ struction, though the contribution from pri¬ vate schools is small in all the items.
In the Normal School and Schools of Peda¬ gogy — five in all — there was a total matricula¬ tion, in 191.5, of 89 men and 199 women. There
19
were 40 teachers in tlwse schools, 7 of them women. In the annexed “School of Applica¬ tion” — or practice sehfail — there was an at¬ tendance of 2,933 students, under 64 teachers. Of the 74,245 students reported as under pri¬ mary instruction, but a very small minority reach the sixth grade. In all Paraguay, ac¬ cording to the statistics of 1914, there were but 305 children in the sixth grade; 95 of these were in the schools of Asuncion.
There are hut four Secondary Schools in the country, one of them private (Roman Catho¬ lic) and the following statistics of attendance, by grades, will !«■ interesting:
|
SK('<1X |
IIARV |
Ix.srm'i' |
TION |
i.N 1914 |
||
|
1st |
2nd |
:wd |
4th |
5111 |
6th |
|
|
year |
ye:i i' |
year |
yea r |
y(‘a.r |
yea r |
Total |
|
3(IS |
162 |
\ryi) |
120 |
71 |
69 |
SSO |
From this it will be seen that only H80 chil¬ dren were matricidated in the courses of Sec¬ ondary Instruction; only 69 entered the last year, and only 60 went up for the final ex¬ aminations of the course. Among these 60 there was but one girl. There is no record of the number of those who successfully passed the examinations.
Because of financial difficulties, some of the courses in the University have l>een suppressed and this institution now offers the following courses with an attendance in each as follows:
20
University Instruction
Hluilcnls Hlmlents
|
tiuhjcclis |
malriculatcd |
examined |
||
|
Law and |
1st year |
04 |
1 st year |
17 |
|
Social |
2nd year |
44 |
2nd year |
21) |
|
Sciences |
3rd year |
13 |
3rd year |
14 |
|
4th year |
10 |
4th year |
20 |
|
|
5th year |
4 |
5th year |
4 |
|
|
Gtli year |
3 |
0th year |
7 |
|
|
Pharmacy |
1st year |
13 |
1 st yea r |
11 |
|
2nd year |
4 |
2nd year |
5 |
|
|
•Si'd year |
li |
3rd year |
5 |
|
|
I’reiia ration |
1st year |
11) |
1 st yea r |
11 |
|
of Notaries |
2n<l year |
1 |
2nd yea r |
1 |
|
3rd year |
1) |
3rd yea r |
1 |
|
|
Midvi'ifery |
1st year |
1(1 |
Isl year |
!l |
|
2nd year |
It; |
2n<l year |
13 |
'I’lif Ktiidciits grailiiiilcil fiom the Univer¬ sity in were, as fellows: Doctors ill .Inris-
prndenee, 7; I’liarniacists, 4; ^lidwives. I).
Tlie Seliinol of Medicine was suppressed a few years ago and students who desire a nieili- cal course are eoiuiielled to se<‘k it outside their own country. The majority of such men go to the unusually fine Medical School of the University of Buenos Aires, while a, few go to Europe, and occasionally a student finds his way to the United States of America. Before the world war, a number of students were studying in Europe on scholarships provided by the Government. These have now been re¬ called and will not be able to resume their
21
studios while the Rvout ooulliot coutiuuos, nud t)io wuvld’s liiuitu-ial an-anf;omoiits are ovor- tuniexi.
The Government’s budget for 1915 show'ed a erant of $8,047,480 for all purposes of puhlie rnstruetion, or about $2:10,000 A.ueriean gold. This amount is to he iucreasetl from year to year, since new buildings are already in pro¬ cess of erection and every effort is being made to increase the number mid efficiency of the teachers, esiiecially in the smaller towns and villages.
The State Church
The official State Churidi of Paraguay is the Roman Catholic. There is, however, freedom „t worship and the dominant church seems to luive but a slight hold on the lample. 1 do not remember to have seen a single church edifice which was completely finished or in a good state of repair. One or two are in course of construction, and, when completed, will lie architectural oniaiiients to the city. But progress is slow, for the government con¬ tributes but little and ixu-sonal subscriptions are few and small in amount. “With what „reat sacrifice,” said one of the public men, "do we erect these buildings!” The yearly budget provides the salaries of the clergy, but. wntrarv to the customs in South American lands, these are made ridiculously low and the recipients are rated as government employees of secondary importance. There is no Arch¬ bishop in Paraguay, since this country forms
22
a part of the territory that falls under the eeclesiastieal jurisdiction of the church au¬ thorities resident in Buenos Aires. The local head of the church is the Bishop of Asuncion, and he receives for his services the scarcely munificent sum of .1)24,000 a year, in Para¬ guayan paper, or less than .$700 American gold. The entire contribution for the supjx)rl of the oflicial church for the past year was .$278,400 (pesos), while for the x\rmy and for the Navy a somewhat more generous amount was given, the provision for both these services reaching the sum of .$14,930,854.72 (jk'sos).
With this small amount of money at its disposal, if f(jr no other reasons; and counting on but little sympathy from the people ns a whole, it is not surprising that the Roman Catholic Church lias done so little toward liuilding uji a strong and useful organization in the country. There are eighty-four jiriests in the whole republic who are in active serv¬ ice, and of this number, forty live in the capi¬ tal. Counting the entire population of Para¬ guay at one million, and that of Asuncion at one hundred thousand, there remain nine hun¬ dred thousand to be eared for by but forty- four spiritual advisers. This would give to each one a parish of 20,450 souls. Even if each of these men had the learning and execu¬ tive ability of Ignacius of Loyola, or the fiery zeal of Peter the Hermit — which is itniirobable — his ta.sk would still be eipial. if not suix’rior, to his powers.
23
Need for Christian Work
That there is need of Christian work in reforming the national consdence may be evi¬ denced by a study of the birth statistics as issued liy the, government. In 1910, there were 14,425 births; 6,038 of these were legiti¬ mate, and 8,387 illegitiiuate. Instead of a disapiKiarance of this evil, it would seem to Ik‘ on the increase; for, in 1913, out of a total of 16,377 births, tliere were 9,638 clas,sed as illegitimate and 6,739 as legitimate.
Douldless, this aiii>alling percentage of il¬ legitimacy is not entirely due to a lack of religious l(•aehing on the |siinl. I'lie only legal form of marriage is the civil eontra<t. which must precede the blessing by the Church if this is given. .\nd it- is probable in rai agiiay. as in other new count l ies, whiu’c society is still in formation, that (his well- meant legislation merely timds to inerea.se the evil which it was destined to abate. The ignorant country ])eople will not and, in many eases, can not conform to the law. Since the parents, esps'cially in regions remote from the centers of populatnin, mate as do the birds, .seeking the sanction of neither Church nor State, their children are necessarily classed as illegitimate. One of the hopeful signs in Paraguay, and an eanu-st of better family conditions in coming years, is the fact that the clergy urge upon the people a strict fulfill¬ ment of the law. When Church and State thus work together toward the solution of this great problem, progress is assured and much already
24
25
aoconiplislied toward the bettering of existing conditions.
The Location of the People Advantageous to Religious Work
Organized religious work should not be difficult in Parag\ia}', owing to the oonvenient grouping of the population. Thirteen towns, including the capital, rejxtrt a population of over ten thousand, and five report more than eight thousand hut less than ten thousand. Nine of these seventeen towns are capitals of districts, of which there are fifteen in all. The majority of the {>eople live in or near these towms, and the outlying country districts are. not difficult of access.
Extent of Protestant Work
Protestant work has h<>en attempted in hut two cities. t)utsitle of the eai»ital, and in no l)lace has it made any definite, is-rmancnt im- ]>ression on either the loi-al or national life. This is due, in great part, no doubt, to the fact that it has teen carried on, almost ex¬ clusively, by independent w'orkers who, how¬ ever strong they may have been in spirit and in faith, and in spite of the utter loyalty with which they have wrought, have lacked the necessary resources for the successful prosecution of their work. Only one of the strong Hoards has ever attempted work in Paraguay, and it decided to withdraw its forces some years ago. These desultory efforts on the part of independent workers have been almost entirely unperceived or recognized by
26
the people at large. If little or no sympathy has been awakened for such work, it is also true that nothing has been done to antagonize the people or create an atmosphere that would render diftieult the opening of evangelical woik on a mure extensive scale, and on a more permanent basis, by some one of the strong missionary organizations. The women are, a.s a rule, practising Catholics, but do not have the reputation of being fanatical, as in other countries. The men aie indifferent to all forms of religious worship, but would be more likely to favor a non-Catholic movement, if it were symj)athetically presentetl, than anything connected with the church which they have known for so long but which has utterly failed (o enlist their sympalhies or gain their sup- Jjort.
Prevailing Indifference to Religion
Tlie impression one carries away from Para¬ guay, as regards the religious condition, is that, as a country, it has had but little re¬ ligious teaching, and that even this little has fallen on indifferent ears. There is but slight interest in religious or spiritual problems. Those who may go to Paraguay to undertake religious work will find that but little has lias been done in the past. The soil is prac¬ tically virgin, for it has not been plowed. Only tlie surface has been scratched here and there. The rich sub-soil has not been reached. But, when it has been reached, and the seed ha.s been sown and carefully tended, there can
27
be no doubt tliat tlic luii'vest will be boiiii- teous.
The Opportune Hour for Evangelical Effort If it is true Unit there is need of aetive, intelligent, organized evangelieal work in the Keiiublic of I’araguay, it is doubtless true also that now is the most o[iportnnc time, the psyehologieal moment, in the history of the country, for such work to begin. There has been a eomparatively long period of peace, and there is a feeling and a hope that the devastation of war is a thing of the |)ast and that the nation may now begin to lay, in real earnest, the foundations of a future prosperity seareidy equaled in South Ameri- can eountries. It is the time of all times when Paraguay needs intelligent, sym|iathetie help in order that she may buihl strongly and well.
Friendly Feeling Toward the United States And from no land would such help be more willingly or more gratefully received than from the Ibiited States of America. Para¬ guayans have not forgotten the uninterrupted friendship of [last years between the two na¬ tions, and in particular remember very grate¬ fully the decision of Kutherford li. Hayes, then President of the United States, that gave to their country po.ssession of a vast terri¬ tory that had been claimed by a powerful neighbor. "Villa Hayes,” a flourishing village not far from the capital, stands as a per¬ petual reminder of that friendly act of justice.
28
Tlie Paraguayans reiupnilx-r, too, that in the days of their anguisii, during the wars of Solano Lopez, the Minister of the United States was the last diplomat to leave his post, and his country was one of the first to resume friendly relations when peace had been established through the overthrow of the dictator. The intelligent, kindly interest shown in the country by the present United States Minister, the honorable Daniel Mooney, as well as his exem|)lary life among them, has also done much to cement the traditional friendship between the two countries.
Calls to a Mission Board
It .seems to the writer that f(n' tliese and other rea.sons the time is ripe for some one of the great Hoards to move into Paraguay and establish a work that will be a help to the men who are bearing the responsibility of government in .s(d\'ing the intellectual and si)iiitnal problems that confront them. Such woi'k, when begun, would naturally follow the traditional lines of evangelistic and ednc.a- (ional endeavors; but these lines of work should, in my opinion, be comliicted separately. Kvangelistic effort would have to be prose¬ cuted, as in other fields of South America; and here, as in the other fields, would appeal very largely, if not exclusively, to the people of the working class. Jt wouhl be necessary to raise ni), as soon as possible, a native min¬ istry. To this end the missionaries could take advantage of the International Theological
29
Seminary and School of Social Sciences which it is proposed to establish in the neighboring city of Montevideo.
But it seems that the opportunity is unique for the beginning of educational work on a liigher plane than has yet been attempted in South America. Instead of expecting the school to grow out of the church, it would be well to expect the church to grow out of the school, although the process may be slow and trying to the patience of those respon¬ sible for the support of such an institution, as well as those who carry it on.
There is a great imed in the capital for a first-class boarding school for boys, which would folloV the official program of stud¬ ies, with superior equipment and the most modern methods of instruction, under the di¬ rection of specially priqiared male jirofessors who would come to this work as Christian teachers rather than exponents of this or that school of theological thought. The principal of this school, in particular, should be one of our most choice young men, of special preparation of heart and mind. There would be an opportunity for him to enter the Uni¬ versity of Paraguay, either as a special stu¬ dent or as a special lecturer, and thus establish a personal contact with the representative men of the country. By the exercise of pa¬ tience, and if possessed of a winning person¬ ality, I believe that in a very few years such a man would occupy a position of inlluence second to none other, and be able to fonnu-
30
late and put into operation plana for the in¬ tellectual and moral uplift of the nation. Such educators and such a school should be backed by a Board that would be willing to count results in the changed lives of men, in the moral uplift of a community through years of strenuous and complex effort, rather than in members received into this or that com¬ munion of the evangelical churches. But the members, too, would not be lacking and would come from a class of society that has scarcely been touched by our evangelical work in other Latin American countries.
I would like to suggest that the field be occupied as soon as possible by sending a good man to Asuncion for the purpose of studying local conditions and establishing contacts. This would be better than to wait until equi]!- ment has been ])rovided and the time come to launch the school. Considerable attention might be given to gaining the confidence of those in authority, to consultation with lead¬ ing educators of the country as to the exact kind of institution that would be most help¬ ed to them in the solution of their general school problems, and to study and investiga¬ tions that would enable one to become thor¬ oughly saturated with the history, the folk lore, and the customs of the country.
It goes without saying that along with this should be developed the evangelistic program, and, if possible, a medical work that, through the gospel of healing, men should be drawn to the Great Physician. Beginning at Asun-
31
cion, the work should be extended into the smaller towns and country districts, where the neglect of all things si)irit\ial is aii|ialling.
Not long before going into I’aragnay I had occasion to read a book entitleil '‘Kl Dolor I’aragnayo’' — "The I’ain of I’aragnay.” After traveling about the republic by steamer and by rail, meeting the men who face the i)rob- lems of the reconstruction period of the his¬ tory of their country witii high ideals and disinterested patriotism, looking into the homes of the people, both ot the rich and of the humble classes, and observing the swarms of happy, healthy, barefoot children that throng the strt*ets of the citi(‘s and the coun¬ try lanes and highways — -alter this caietnl study and observation, 1 am convinced that these “pain.s” may be turned into “growing |iains,” if the helpful hand of sympathy, serv¬ ice and love is extemled to them.
32
J)f<^
WILSON'S MESSAGE TO LATIN-AMERIGA
Suggests Compact as World Peace Basis
SPEECH TO MEXICAN EDITORS
Says U. S. Wants Nothing Out of War and Would Accept Nothing — Distressed at False Impression Enemy Agents Are Creating in Neighboring Kepublic.
Havana, June 11 (by A. P.). — Presi¬ dent Wilson, in his address to the Mexican newspaper editors in Wash¬ ington last Friday, expressed sincere friendship for Mexico. His address, which is printed in the morning news¬ papers here to-day, follows, in part:
"I have never received a group of men who were more welcome than ,you, because it has been one of my ' distresses during my Presidency that the Mexican people did not more thor¬ oughly understand the attitude of the United States toward Mexico. X think I can assure you that that attitude is one of sincere friendship.
"The policy of my Administration toward Mexico was in every point ba.sed upon the principle that the in¬ ternal settlement of the affairs of Mexico was none of our business; that we had no right to interfere with or dictate to Mexico in any particular with regard to her own affairs. When we sent troops into Mexico our sin¬ cere desire was nothing else than to I assi.st you to get rid of a man who wa.e making the settlement of your affairs for the time being impossible. We had no desire to use our troops for any other purpose, and I was in hopes that by assisting in that way. and thereupon immediately withdraw¬ ing, I might give substantial truth of assurance that I had given your Gov¬ ernment through President Carranza.
•'.\t the present time it distresses me to learn that certain influences, v/hich I assume to be German in their origin, are trying not only to make a wrong impression throughout Mex¬ ico as to the purpo.se of the United States, but to give an absolutely un¬ true account of things that happen.
' CHAMPIONS OK THE WEAKER NATIONS.
I "We are the champions of those ' nations which have not had the mili¬ ary standing which would enable nem to compete with the .strongest ■.at’ons in the world, and I look for- .vard with pride to the time which I hope will come when we can give substantial evidence not only that we do not want anything out of this war, but that we would not accept anything out of it: that it is absolute¬ ly a case of disinterested action. And it you will watch the attitude of our people you will see that nothing stirs them so deeply as the assurances
that this war, so far as we are con¬ cerned, is for idealistic obJect,s. . . .
"Some time ago I proposed
a sort of Pan-American agreement, "1 had perceived that one of the dif¬ ficulties of our past relationships with Latin-America was this: The famous Monroe Doctrine was adopted without your consent, and without the consent of any of the Central American or South American States. We said:
•We are going to be your big
brother, whether you want us to be or not.’
■‘We did not ask whether it was agreeable to you that we should be your big brother. We said we are going to be. Now. that is all very well as far as protecting you from
■ aggression from the other side of the water was concerned, but there was
■ nothing in it that protected you from > aggression from us, and I have re- . peatedly seen an uneasy feeling on , the part of representtaives of the r states of Central and South America 1; that our self-appointed protection 1 might be for our own benefit and our
own interests, and not for the inter-
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■Let us have a common guarantee hat all of us will sign a declaration if political independence and territo- ■ial integrity. I..et us agree that if my of us, the United States included, dolates the political independence or erritorial integrity of any of the oth- r.o -'I the other.s wnll .jump on her.’ BASIS KOI! FUTURE I’E-ACE.
“Now, that is the kind of agree¬ ment that will have to he the founda¬ tion of the future life of the nations of the world, gentlemen. The whole family of nations wil! have to guaran¬ tee to each nation that no nation shall violate its political independence or its territorial integrity. That is the basis — the only conceivable basis — for the future peace of the world, and 1 must admit that 1 was anxious to have the states of the two continents of America show the way to the rest of the world as to how to make a basis for peace.
"Peace can only come by trust. If you can once get a situation of trust, then you have got a situation of per¬ manent peace. Therefore, every one of us owes it as a patriotic duty to his own country to plant the seeds of trust and confidence. Instead of the seeds of suspicion and a variety of
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SPEECH PRAISED IN LONDON.
London, June 11 (by A. P.). — Presi¬ dent Wilson’s address to Mexican edl- j tors in Washington last F'riday is commented upon with high apprecia- j tion by the newspapers here. ^
The Daily News says that Presi- ^ dent Wil.son, in his speech, ’’revealed himself as the architect of the world’s ^ future." It warmly eulogizes the President’s and America's disinterest- edness In the war, which, it says, is ^ testified to not by words, but by acts, j The paper mentions American loyalty | to the cause of Russia, which It de- j scribes as one of the redeeming epi- ] sodes of the whole war, and urges j other countries which have been "less faithful and less wise to recognize the j sagacity as well as the justice of Presi- j dent Wilson’s policy in making the re- j demption of Russia a fixed and un- ) alterable purpose of the war.” ]
The President, says the Daily < Chronicle, has reason for the claim ■ that the Lfnited States is setting a memorable example of disinterested¬ ness and that such an attitude takes away ground for suspicion in seeking a mutual understanding among nations. The Doily Graphic declares that upon such altruism alone can an enduring peace be founded.
The Times compares the President’s speech with the recent statement of Herr von Payer, the Gorman Vice- Chancellor, and says;
"No contrast could be stronger. The President talks of liberty, justice, and law. The Vice-Chancellor looks for¬ ward to a world, in which the unified armies of Germany and Austria-Hun¬ gary will still impose their orders on a submissive Europe.” j
KlnrterBarten Festival Postponed. |
The kindergarten play festival, i which was to have been held at Pros- | pect Park this morning, was post¬ poned on account of unfavorable weather. The festival wil) be held, weather permitting, on Thursday at ten o’clock on Long Meadow in Pros¬ pect Park.
An Old Portuguese University — Coimbra 139
Organizations among the students are very few, the chief one being the Academic Association,” which maintains a social and recreational centre near the University, where its six hundred members may find reading-room, billiards and game room, a small gymnasium, and a buffet. There is a glee club of one hundred and fifty or two hundred voices, and a student band. The Philanthropic Association,” a worthy institution, aids deserving pwDor students to meet their expenses. A certain number of such students is also helped annually by a fund called “Bolsas de Estudo,” administered by the Board of Trustees, very much as the scholarships of North American universities.
It is our hope that within a couple of years a Student Christian Association may be numbered among these organizations of the students. Genial fellows, kindly disposed, socially attractive and studiously inclined, the greatest need of the students is that of high ideals, an unselfish desire to serve their fellow-men, and a knowledge of Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour.
Characteristics of Latin-American Students
By Dr. Alberto Nin-Frias
There appeared in an Argentine magazine some four years ago, a short story called “The Melancholy of Arthur Cordell.” The subject of the tale was a Harvard graduate, the finest type of American college student, who for some paternal wish left his beloved classics and the United States to become a travelline salesman in Brazil. In order to express in some measure his suppressed longing for the high culture of the heart and mind which Latin America so thoroughly lacks, he kept a diary of his inmost thoughts. He could not endure life in the tropics and its attempts at civilization, and after three years of heartache he died.
It seems to me that every man meets this asphixiating environment in any study of the Latin-American student and his life. The first fact borne in upon him is that higher education is devoid of idealism; it is without practical applicaton to the burning problems of every-day life. Doubtless it is due to the aristocratic spirit which still prevails in society that education is so entirely a matter of erudition, and does not offer intellectual opportunity to all classes of society.
Being completely under state control, education evidences in¬ difference to religion and would even seem to be atheistic in methods and ends. Universities in Latin America are part of the civil administration, which both instructs and licenses professional men. The presidents are therefore appointees of the govern¬ ment — in most cases of party government — and not educators of a nation. They are by no means the highest exponents of citizenship and public morals.
Students gather in the university to be taught, not to form a living unit with it as Alma Mater. They have no sympathetic relationship with its past or its traditions. In fact Latin-American universities are not live organisms, but rather corpses kept alive artificially. Students, from the start, are disorganized. Nothing brings them together, except occasional outbursts of patriotic feeling. The university town has not appeared as yet ; universities are in urban localities, and are of the cloister type. Professors
Characteristics of Latin-American Students 141
are active professional men, who seem to show no regard for the physical and moral well-being of the student. No interest is evidenced in athletics.
The student means something to the university as long as he is sheltered under its roof, otherwise he is no more to it than the man in the street. The student soon expresses his loose moral code in his manner of living, which is always excused by the fact that he is only a student. The chivalrous treatment of women which characterizes the North American student is entirely foreign to him. Personal purity has taken no root whatever in his thought.
As a rule the hard working student is the exception. The majority spend their life as idlers until the examination period. Then if they fail in December they can be re-examined in March. Fond of good living, students living together have quarters which suggest rather those of the Bohemian artist than those of the order loving student of North America. Disorder and lack of cleanliness are everywhere in evidence. The external appearance is that of a tenement house. The inner life of the student shows lack of social purpose, lawlessness, and the spirit of each man for himself. The best students are the sons of immigrants and country people. The wealthy and aristocratic classes do not furnish much valuable material to the universities.
As a class the Latin-American students mingle considerably in politics and by the mass of the population are considered as the guardians of the nation’s honour. In riots, revolutions, civil wars, you will always find student leaders. There being no student life, the young man naturally turns to shaping national policies as an outlet for his energies. Politics is certainly no school for him, or rather it is a school for scandal. Until recently the greatest number of students and the only favored class were candidates for law. Today, however, medicine is becoming the more popular career, a most salutary sign of progress.
During the years of study for the B.A. degree, the class m philosophy is the only one that brings the student into the least contact with an ethical or world-view of the universe. Aside from this nothing speaks to him of the higher life. Some years ago, deism pervaded this branch of knowledge, in type like that
142
The Student World
of Jules Simon, Saisset, Amedee Jacques, and Caro. Today it is otherwise. Metaphysics is out of the curriculum and with it any philosophy of life. Philosophy has come to mean simply experimental psychology, and the influence on student life makes for skepticism. Republican France, of the radical type, is still the greatest teacher in educational matters, while Germany is becoming prominent in the medical line.
When of the best type, the Latin-American student is a great lover of knowledge for itself. He is erudite, and his encyclopaedic culture charms and astonishes, but his moral life is weakened, if not absolutely destroyed. Nothing is more dangerous for character and peace of mind than indiscriminate reading. Superior in some ways to his Northern brother, the Latin- American student has a broader vision of things, is cosmopolitan in sympathy, argumentative in temperament, and possesses ability to express his views. But he is inferior in civic and social service, private morals, initiative and the spirit of self-reliance.
To sum up, let me say that despite all that can be said in criticism, the best class of young men in Latin America are to be found among the students. This is particularly true of those who are religiously minded and not lacking in ideals. No class as a whole needs more attention from the moral forces of society than the Latin-American students, for it is from the lawyers that the governing class is mainly recruited, and with them lie.<s the progress of the country.
It is to the Latin-American student especially, that the Student Movement should everywhere appeal. For, as has been the case in China, in that way Christian social ideals will be understood and Jesus Christ will become known as the complete type of manhood, loved above all men who have led the world to achievement.
SECOND PAN-AMERICAN SCIENTIFIC CONGRESS
SECTION IV
ON PAN-AMERICAN UNDERSTANDING
BY
JOSE M. GALVEZ, A.M., PH.D.
Professor of English in the University of Chile,
Vice-President of the National Educational Association of Chile,
Delegate of Chile.
ON PAN-AMERICAN UNDERSTANDING.
1. Two great souls nurture the culture of America — the soul of the descendants of the people of Elizabeth of England, that of the Anglo-American states ; and the soul of the descendants of the people of Philip II, that of the Latin-American nations.
The two groups of European culture in America corre¬ spond to the insular or individual part and to the con¬ tinental or collective part into which the European cul¬ ture has been divided and has developed its modern char¬ acter since the times of Elizabeth and Philip II.
You of the United States have, as an essential feature of your culture, the inheritance of British individualism which you have made to flourish on the American soil of the North, where it has borne wonderful results through the splendid activities of great individuals.
We of Latin-America have the collectivism of con¬ tinental Europe, as an essential feature of our cultural inheritance, which we have developed in the Southern lands of America. Whatever has been achieved there — and there has been much — has been done mainly by the governments. People look up generally to the govern¬ ments for whatever is yet to be achieved — and that is still a great deal more.
It is a noteworthy fact regarding the historical times in which we live that, whereas the division of the Eu¬ ropean culture into insular or individualistic and into continental or collective, is one of the chief sources of the disagreements that are bringing about destruction to the old world, the two halves of the European culture in the new world tend to draw near to each other in conferences such as this. Two different souls of Euro¬ pean origin wish to unite within the breast of America. A great and new Pan-American hope is being born which is an omen of happiness to humanity.
2. The Pan-American ideal of continental solidarity, within the bounds of liberty and mutual respect, is what binds us together, forming the spirit of these assemblies that we call “Pan-American Congresses.” They are liv¬ ing expressions of the highest of our common ideals.
3. The political “Pan-American Congresses” seek the
realization of the ideal of Pan-Americanism by endeavor¬ ing to give common direction to the political life of the continent. These Pan-American political assemblies tend to guide one of the most fundamental manifestations of the external or practical life of the States of the new world.
4. The “Pan-American Scientific Congresses” seek the realization of the Pan-American ideal, endeavoring to give common direction to the general cultivation of the sciences on our continent. They tend to guide one of the most fundamental manifestations of the inward or ideal life of the nations of America.
5. The internal life, being a source of the manifes¬ tations of the external life, all progress of the external or practical existence of individuals and communities takes for granted progress in the internal life of the same.
Being convinced of the invincible power of ideas, I consider that of the two kinds of Pan-American Con¬ gresses, the second or scientific one, is the more far reaching for the future of our nations. The Pan-Ameri¬ can Scientific Congresses, it would seem, are the institu¬ tions out of which new common ideals for our peoples ought to be developed and which are to serve to realize generally all the continental ideals which we cherish, and especially our great ideal of solidarity, which we denomi¬ nate “Pan-Americanism.”
6. The most efficient means of getting nearer to the ideal of Pan-Americanism consists in furthering Pan- American understanding.
Pan-American understanding presents itself to us as one of the great aims of Pan-American Congresses. Its growth is the best guarantee of continental peace. What already exists of it has brought about the good will that unites us. It is to be wished also that from it may be born what may enrich the work of solidarity towards which we are all working, adding to the treasures in thought of our intellectual men the treasures of Pan-American feeling, bringing about that Pan- Americanism that may not only be the result of the ac¬ tivity of the minds but also of the best hearts of America.
Then we shall have obtained to the full extent the valu¬ able cooperation of the most beautiful part of life in the new world — of Pan-American Womanhood.
7. My task on this occasion is to invite you to direct some of our efforts towards the strengthening of Pan- American understanding, stimulating the scientific study of two of the most important manifestations of life in our continent, namely, of the great cultural languages of America, on the one hand ; and, on the other, of all the solutions which the individuals and peoples of America ^ive to the problems that refer to the origin and finality of the universe and of life.
8. Language is one of the most human manifestations of animal life. It is a vehicle for the thought of indi¬ viduals and of nations, the medium through which the characteristics of both are expressed.
The first aspect of understanding between individuals and between peoples is the idiomatic one. In every un¬ derstanding language is not an end in itself, but it is an indispensable means for reaching that end. It is the door through which the foreigner must pass if he would enter the building of a strange culture.
The two different languages, the one Anglo-Saxon and the other Latin in origin — the language of Shakespeare on the one hand, and the language of Cervantes on the other — correspond to the two most enterprising branches of European culture which flourish in the new world, to the British and Iberic nations of our continent, to the two different collective souls of America. The mutual understanding between the Anglo- American and the Iberic-American peoples demands that in the English speaking countries of America the Span¬ ish language should be studied more widely, and that in the Spanish and Portuguese speaking sections of the American continent the English language should be studied with ever-increasing interest. If this demand were to be satisfied every child of America would have in its hands an indispensable and powerful instrument which it would be able to use to penetrate into all the most important manifestations of the spirit of our con¬ tinent.
9. The sum of the solutions which the individuals and the peoples of America give to the problems pertaining to the origin and end of the universe and of life consti¬ tutes what we may call Pan-American philosophy. The comprehension of this philosophy constitutes also the highest intellectual understanding among the individuals and among the communities of our continent — one of the highest objects of Pan-American understanding.
The study of science for the sake of science itself is indeed a high aim, but a stilt higher aim is the study of science for the sake of life.
Pan-American Scientific Congresses aim at studying science for the sake of Pan-American life.
Philosophy, being the most general of all sciences, the one science towards which the cultivation of all special
sciences should tend, the highest general scientific effort of the Pan-American Scientific Congresses should, ac¬ cording to my way of thinking, consist in furthering the study of Pan-American Philosophy.
10. Proposals.
I. Considering that Pan-American understanding can be greatly widened and deepened by extending and intensifying the study of English in Latin-America and of Spanish in Anglo-Saxon America, it is to the interest of the Continent:
To declare English and Spanish Pan-American lan¬ guages, and.
To recommend to the governments of all the repub¬ lics of the American continent, to the universities and to the other educational institutions of America to bring their influence to bear upon this subject, to the end that the study of Pan-American languages be extended and in¬ tensified, giving preference to these languages in the cur¬ ricula of the corresponding educational institutions; founding schools of languages where special attention may be given to the study of the Pan-American tongues, and wherein the linguistic study may be supplemented by teaching about the realities of life in the corresponding countries; forming a good national body of teachers of Pan-American languages, whose equipment shall include the stay of a year or more in the country whose lan¬ guage is being studied; bringing about the interchange of professors, teachers and students of Pan-American lan¬ guages ; establishing, as a requisite to receiving the title of teacher of secondary education, that in Latin-America a sufficient knowledge of English be acquired, and in the United States a sufficient knowledge of Spanish be ob¬ tained ; and through all other means that they may think convenient.
II. Considering that in culture individuals and peoples have their own philosophy; that to all new cultural life, such as that of the American nations, there is a corresponding new philosophy; that the science of philosophy is the most general of all sciences, that religion is the philosophy of the masses of the people, history has never known a great people to exist without religion and that Christianity has been and is the ideal foundation of Pan-American culture; it is of continental import :
1. That it be recommended to the governments of the American republics, to the universities and to the other institutions of higher education of the continent, the establishment of Chairs of Scientific Philosophy that shall be independent of all professionalism and whose object may be to disseminate knowledge of philosophy in gen¬ eral, and especially as to the development of philosophic ideas in America ; and, the foundation of Seminaries of Philosophic Research which may investigate especially the philosophic character of the most important manifesta¬ tions of cultural life in America, in the endeavor to form
-currents of philosophic thought which may be in har¬ mony with the improvement of life in each country and which may work to give Pan-American philosophy a di¬ rection that may be in harmony with the new aspects of Pan-American life ;
2. To recommend to the universities, to the other in¬ stitutions of higher education and to the normal schools of America the establishment of scientific chairs of the history of religions, whose special object shall be the dissemination of scientific knowledge in regard to the de¬ velopment of Christianity on the American continent, and.
To request the help of the governments, of the univer¬ sities and of the normal schools to the end that the future professors and teachers of American History may ac¬ quire special knowledge regarding the deep influence which Christianity has had on the cultural development of America.
Chilean Embassy, Casilla 1474,
Washington. Santiago de Chile.
(New Willard, 721)
Sxtraot from the Keport of tlie Santiago Station.
^ exact oensas of Santiago is not at present attainable, bat computations based on data worthy of credence place the figure beyond 300,000 if the immediately adjacent suburbs be included; and the city IS constantly growing. It is par excellence, the city ’that influences the nation, in almost every line, socially, intellectually, morally and religiously, as well as politically. There is a constant stream 01 people coming from every part of the republicto visit or live for a while in the capital--people of all positions in the social scale.
From here there is as constantly flowing out, not only a crowd of the same kind, but the governmental functionaries, the military, the clergy, the doctors, dentists, pharmacists, engineers, lawyers, and last^ out not less for influence the teachers. There are, roughly speaking, in this city some seven thousand pupils in the higher schools and universities; the wealth of the nation is largely represented here. The fashions and the papers and principle publications of a popular as well as of a serious nature come to light here. The pop-
influence of Santiago on the life of Chili greatly surpass¬ es that of ^y other city, and humanly speaking will for a long time be gpatly in the asceddency over any city for more than half the length of the /est caast of South America--if we ought not to say on the v;hole coast. ^et it be borne in mind that the commercial importance has not been mentioned; in that respect, Valparaiso far exceeds the im¬ portance of Valparaiso and, in fact, that of any city on the coast of the western continent south of San Francisco, California. But for the influence of a city on the destinies of this nation and to a large extent on the future of Peru and Bolivia, there is no city com¬ parable to Santiago on the West coast.
llow, if this be so, the Christian Church and Christian missionary must look with special solicitude on this strategic point, and plan to occupy it with an adequate force and one appropriate to the existing conditions. A brief survey of the situation will reveal how far this has been accomplished, or shall we say rather how far short Y;e are of accomplishing it? Svangelical work was begun amidst many difficulties about forty years ago. A single evangelical minister established preaching in English and Spanish, and finally a church building was erected. Passing over the period of an entire generation, let us en;imerate the present Christian forces and equipment to be found now in this city. First among tiie foreign communities:- Union Church with some thirty or forty members, a pastor whose salary in part comes irom the United States, a good Church building centrally located.
It is exi)ected that speedily some provision will be made by this church for the social and religious needs of the English speaking young men of the citv. The British Protestant Church, with a pastor, ( Church of .jn^^d) partly supported by an English Missionary Society. it has ^ fund, but no building of its own. The German Evangelical
Church with a pastor, partly supported from Germany. It owns a small building which it occupies at present in union with the British Protest¬ ant Church. In all three churches and three ministers. These colonies are v/ell provided for with churches and schools.
„ , among the Chiliana:- Presbyterian, the Church of the Most
oly Trinity with 90 members and 3C0 or 400 adherents, a Spanish castor largely supported by the local church, a site for church and manse with buildings on itthat must be made over to be fit for either- the church of the Redeemer with 70 members and about 300 adherents supplied by a foreign missionary and native helpers, a small lot for building, and a small building fund. Three other rented Llission
halls and two or three rooms used grataito asly- Methodist Episcopal; - two churches supplied hy foreign missionaries, one fine building site with temporary buildings, one other small lot in suburbs, three rented halls besides the buildings occupied by the churches, and other rooms used gratuitously. Two Mission Boarding Schools, one Presbyterian for boys and young men, one Methodist for girls and young ladies, fine buildings and corps of teachers. A press, belonging to the M.S. Mdission. Each of these Missions publishes in the capital, a weekly religious paper and tracts. The American and the British and Foreign Bible Societies are represented here by a sub-agent and two other coloporters whose tim is employed in the city and outside. The Seventh Day Adventists have a small and disintegrating work, hardly to be taken into account among the constructive Christian forces.
And this is about all that can be mustered in this great city after forty years. In resume, four Chilian Evangelical Churches, five min¬ isters, four other native workers, and a corp of teachers, plus three Bible Society agents; two school buildings, two temporary church build¬ ings and two building lots, a few rooms in the homes of the poorand a press with a couple of small religious weeklies and an output of a few tracts a year. This, surely, is not a very imposing array of workers and equipment for the evangelization and Christian nurture of the largest and most important city on the west coast of South Amer¬ ica .
I /
A PL*:-^ f for khxjLCAL end i.-UiJiAJV S^OKi:
in U*-ilLa.
i^te livo in e Imcl of lofty nzountRine ^hoat) ano^e are SliBtenins isrhite in their purity. i‘nd o' dv ©p dark valleys #ith treacherouB aidco.
«© live in a country wrxooe oliciate ia wonderful beyond compare, - whose people are of e strong and sturdy stock, - but whose population is deciinat<xi by plagues end cJieeaee.
.ve live in a country that has the highest birth rat© In the wt world but alangaid© ctends the a.vful spectre of the highest infant mortality.
live in a Itnd .Those cities have finely equipped hospitals and #h08e doctors stand high in their profession, but where the people of the villages are at the mercy of oharlat^ru ane .
flf© have the carefully oared for mother with nurses end doctors and ev ry conifort that money ocn buy. have the
poor women with neither nurse or doctor, nor a bed to lie upon, ihe following will explain this statement.
A few years ago the wife of the iovemor of V'lparaieo visited U16 nsaternlty hospital of that city ruid published a dl scrip ion of whx t aiie saw, in one of the drily papers.
iihe s'ald that every bed in the free ward was occupied, it one bed there was a woman sitting at on© end who had just be n deliverer of a child, at the other end r. vroman waiting for the bed which was occupied by a .voman in labor should be r ail able for her. The viovemor's wife made can ao' eel to the oublic rjnd more :.ede wex© added.
io one of the kiaeion hispenearieo, a woman took her baby with its navel in a very bad condition. hhe was asked if she had had her ccsnf inoment in a maternity hospital. her rnswer was *’no”. ”i:ou had a Kddwifet" "ho**. neighbour took
care of yout" ’'i»o’’. Ihen in reply to the eurprised look of the 4:le^ionary, a.*e said, "1 had no on© with me, but my little girl oi ei.^ht, who pei:8ed re a basin of warm water*.
mere are lar^,e families of healthy happy children, and thexe ere saotiiers who bare children only to bury then. Igno¬ rance, poverty, alooholiom and the dreadful scourge of srenereal diaeaee, all have their part ^nj/pyit ing out the little flarae of life. I knew a woman, who‘''fffe^«^^n© robust baby in a box by hex her side as she washed. One day, nlssing the baby, I asked for it. *11 died" was her answer. "What wta the joatterT*
“It had cn attack". "is it the first child that you have l.ostt" ";<o, eight have died".
56 livo in a Ifurid of aplendld univereltiee but wh&rm ihe lew ot aor.pulsory education oannot be enforced for lack of buildings end teechera.
We live in e lend where children thoustaids ere ,;eth©red into aoi'lurosj offeprinfis oX“ illesitii-ccy . ^ut w«o *;o©t *.o nBiblet and t4sn*Ei«a:it to teach the girls to guard their hesnor?
W live in e land where vice ia isade ersy for the man, but where the women who is a mother but cannot call herself a wife, is abandoned or cared for at the caprice of the father of her child.
live in a land of fabulous wealth and abject poverty. In the iSitrat© desorte of the norvh, in the waving wheat fields of the south, in the undorgtound treasure house of 4k« nines, are the mighty masters bf industry, who often in a few years have emas&e ©U fortunes from the heart blood of their workr-en.
We live in a land where the idle rich are like their kind the world around and women and children of the ppor ere victims of greed .
Se live in a lend where triore is true patriotism md love to fellow mmi, but where the odds are so great against these apostles of better tliings, thft tixeir figures utnd out like the Christ of the /aides; iiOlitary fnd Alone*
ihe "hmendodo " says, "If I give deo<Mit houses to my workmen, they will still live like pigs spend their wages in d;ink".
Has anycme taught them better, and does not he himsolf make and sell to them the wine and rplrits that they drink?
The doctor says that if I tell a woman in a tenement to give her sick child s hot bath, she will not do it". rerhfps she oeainot. *0 Illustrate this, the following case nlijit b« cited of t mother in a Ml scion uispensary. when handsd her baby just bathe*, and sweet end clean end in fresh clothing, the nurse seidi "Sow you bathe your baby yourself every day. iou con use your "bates" (A woodt^ trough used for wauhing). "Jut, i have none, ten ora". "rhen use your wash-basin". "I have not that either". "Jet a paraffin tin end out it lengthwise". "Yec, but that coete
money " /
kany of the babies die arid time of weaning. The mother |
gives the child the breast, just ; s long as there is a drop. That | does not cost money. ihen the child is given just whatever there is, bread, black coffee, beans ©to., not always beorus© the mo¬ ther knows no better, but because there is no money to buy anything else. Jut why is there no moneyt It is en awful circle.
The man drinks because he is poor and sick, and he is poor and sick beoaBse h© drinks. The family lives in a sqaullid room b©os«\»e they can pay for no better. Xh© father drinks to drown hie si aery. Ih© mother is hopeless cgnd does not try to make things better.
loam to fond for thomsel-
Xhe oliildr«n who jBenago to liv©» early
“w oth«r h^est .hat IB
the sesaico that will open every doort Josee^^by the
gor with healing in its wings. une s t^gue is t
sick bed. une can say to the motnor; Jesus loves you, ho underatende everything, he wants this door baby boy Srow i»p to be a good raen; you know he hlnsself wee bom in a *
The father will listen to one who has brought confort Into tii© hoL! ?L older ehUdren .ill let the nurse teeoh then how to keep the roon clean, Md theneelweB r.nd H
ro^^J’i hftr I??e“?rr”ihf sr™
"“'’’'■ there tre many honer of sober Ir.duetrle.,, worknsn where little can be put aside for nedloal attentions
The i^nglioen kisaicn has an important clinic with two nurses* end mid-wife in their miasion to the XBBucsnisn Indians. Other Bi6«Bb©rB of other miaslcmB feeling that they coulc ^ +
IT/r IT^ lend a helping hand whers there is ^ire neoesaity,
have opened clinlOB end dispensBries in throe cities of the o
few days ago, on© of Valparaiso foremost f asked if ne thought there was eny need of kedloel .
Shiie replied: "Xhat depends on what you mean by i^e^ical Mssiona if yoL mSa dispenaaries^here the mothers are h^ to
iTt^BihTeVeoroTo’wSif t: r^er^^^Jerjf? rou? 7 rHs-hb « “J:; .ofki;r^r.eTo\":‘err;row? gi
oot^se. »d nSe tohoole where there Is p^per sew
‘^r^: ?tfr:iABrSciiihTJ."wS:n‘j:r.«^^‘‘rd5‘thiB
*”“‘02^.?* weld to the rlok rm "Tuke u- thy be. rnd wtlk-, thrt
h. nl^t trlmsle oonplete. tMfiMnS.
^ wwr- y^fkvn In ♦•v**rv vlllu*'*^ * <^huroh, by «v**'T
It. .l.yrr.«».dj by «."•? -ohool, » dlrpen.er
with trelulna would ronder exoollent would «lt.dly help with their support. It io a wtin for protostant raiseiaiB the respect ®y^
nowers that be mdSthoso of refinement and high those who are trying to help their fellowmen in
for tnle work rnd aational c^mrches work th&t would pathy from the ideals, this lend.
r
■ •
Lat the centers of Ohrletien Work be multiplied in town and olty, £Jid w@ believe the ioerel would sweep the lend like e todal wave. j ^
oco
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SOUTH AJ/ERICAN R3LIGI0US PROBLETMS
Documents from some Intellectuals of Brazil
Prom a letter to Prof* Srasmo Braga, by an intellectual of Brazil, a member of the Academy of Letters of the State of Bios
"Good citizens, members of the well deserving group to which you belong, are sowing, on fertile soil as well as dry ground, the noble ideas that work for a high morality*
Such a great task, undertaken with a large vision, is a firm foundation upon which may be built, or better, re-constructed those niany things we are now lacking, which neglect has destroyed and lamentable perversions have corrupted*
Go on, my brave countryman, to every valley far and wide casting the seed to the favoring winds, Olie fruits shall come, as they always do, when heaven is on the watch and bestows divine blessings on the bands whose labor is moved by a faith which commands loving effort in reponse to the cravings of the land*”
A graduate from the Normal School of 3*Paulo writes:
”I cannot say that I have a definite religious attitude. I attend Protestant services and Roman Catholic ceremonies, when new or renowned preachers come to the town where I live* My family is un— churched, as a large number of Brazilian families are now — they are tired of an old cult, which has lost its grip on us, and have drifted away, carried to and ftro by social currents of every description. Paith is on the wane; morality has withered.
I read my Bible, when I need consolation and guidance — this is my great text-book on Ethics.”
One of the outstanding doctors, author, philanthopist, the "apostle of ten^perance” in Brazil, said:
”I am myself a Roman-catholic, but all of you, who preach sincerely and in earnest, have an enormous task* You may, if you will work with true devotion, save this generation which having lost confidence in the doctrines of the dominant church, may be compared to sailors from a sicken ship, grasping for straw and chips of wood with which to save their lives. This is the reason why superstition and n\ysterious cults are so popular among us*”